Southland were too strong all round in the Cyclone Hawke Cup elimination representative cricket fixture played in Oamaru over the weekend.

North Otago won the toss and elected to bat after a solid start by openers Bob Wilson and Phil Collings who put on 39 in the first hour the wickets began to tumble.

Wilson and Collings both went in the space of five balls and with the total at 70, North Otago lost three further wickets to be six down.

The remaining four wickets added only 27 runs for the side to be all out for a meagre 97.

Kassem Ibadulla was the best of the Southland bowlers taking three for eight off 10 overs and four balls while Robbie Hill bowled doggedly and accurately into the strong north easterly to take three for 20.

Southland, obviously after outright points, went through to 126 for two before declaring with Ibadulla unbeaten on 53 and Garth Dawson not out on 30 hit in carefree fashion in 15 minutes.

North Otago once again were given an excellent start by openers Collings and Dennis Sandri who put on 54 for the first wicket but once again the middle order batsmen produced nothing apart from a solid 28 form Graeme Johnson and it was left to Chris Taylor to hold out definitely for an unbeaten 26 before the last wicket fell at 140.

This left Southland the task of scoring 112 runs to win in 65 minutes and 20 overs, a task they achieved with three overs still to spare and eight wickets in hand.

Short Scorecard(s)

Representative - Cyclone Hawke Cup - Zone Series

Southland vs North Otago at Centennial Park Oval, Oamaru
North Otago 97 ( P. Collings 15, L. Robertson 12, D. Sandri 12, R.S. Wilson 11, Wilson 4-36, Ibadulla 3-8, Hill 3-20 ) & 140 ( P. Collings 34, G. Johnson 28, C. Taylor 26no, D. Sandri 18, N. Donaldson 13, Ibadulla 5-34, Lindsay 2-39 )
Southland 126-2dec ( K.B.K. Ibadulla 53no, R.N. Hoskin 34, G.J. Dawson 30no ) & 113-2 ( K.J. Burns 50, K.B.K. Ibadulla 25, R.N. Hoskin 19no, G.J. Dawson 13no )
Southland won by 8 wickets
Full scorecard for the match