Bearded duo lead the Knights to T20 riches
Let’s call it The Beard Final.
The magnificently facially hirsute duo of Anton Devcich and Dean Brownlie guided the Northern Knights to the Super Smash Twenty20 title by nine wickets over the Central Stags.
Devcich gave another reminder in front of attending New Zealand selector Gavin Larsen of his allround excellence in the format, while Brownlie’s shrewd captaincy and strokemaking shone at Hamilton’s Seddon Park on Saturday.
They also combined to produce a stunning catch, when Brownlie leapt to claim a one-hander off Devcich’s bowling to remove Central’s top-scorer George Worker.
Brownlie went against the grain by holding back Devcich from the bowling crease after the visitors won the toss and opted to bat first.
The Knights earned the home final by finishing top of the roundrobin with the best record of the six domestic associations, regularly achieved by using Devcich opening the bowling. On Saturday, Brownlie opted to use seam and pace and keep his spin weapons up his sleeve. It worked a treat as the Stags were never in the hunt.
The hosts dictated terms as the Stags limped to 99-8 off their 20 overs. Victory came with 11.1 overs to spare, handing Northern Districts $80,000 prizemoney while Central Districts, runners-up last season also, took $20,000 for second place.
‘‘We thought it might swing at the top, which it did,’’ Brownlie said.
‘‘I think it proved quite difficult for the CD players.’’
Brent Arnel, Scott Kuggeleijn and Chris Jordan bowled excellent line and length to put the Stags’ toporder under immediate pressure.
That set the scene for Northern’s spin duo of Ish Sodhi – the topranked Twenty20 bowler in the world - and Devcich. The ex-Black Cap had starred throughout the competition with 12 wickets at 18.91 at 6.67 runs per over and his final performance mirrored that of his round-robin exploits by taking 3-16 off his four overs.
Sodhi also masterclass that produced matched a his billing, capturing 2-15 off his four overs as the Stags sank further into the mire.
‘‘Things went our way – Jesse hit one out to the boundary which was a handy bonus – then obviously the spinners could come on after the sixth [over] and really make it tough for them,’’ Brownlie said.
‘‘You have plans, and a lot of the time it doesn’t work, and today was one of those days where everything worked out.
‘‘Our spinners have been outstanding the whole campaign – especially when they’re on the back foot and can’t take too many risks,’’ Brownlie said.
‘‘It makes life a lot easier – you can attack with fields and with the pace off on a slow wicket. I thought we did a great job.
‘‘You couldn’t ask for anything more as a captain – they bowled tough overs, they’re never shy of taking the ball against good opponents in tough times, with short boundaries – they’re always up for a challenge.’’
Openers Tim Seifert (23 off 12 balls) and Devcich (51 not out off 24) got the Knights off to a quick start in their chase. No 3 Brownlie (28no) soon featured, taking five fours in a scintillating strokemaking display off one over from Blair Tickner.
Not to be outdone, Devcich then went one better as he struck a four off every ball of the next over bowled by left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel.
It was the second domestic Twenty20 crown in Northern’s history, and an instant triumph for new Knights T20 coach Gareth Hopkins. The former wicketkeeperbatsman was given the job in a specialist role this season – with incumbent James Pamment retained for the one-day and firstclass competitions, before recently accepting a fielding coach job with the Mumbai Indians in the IPL.
‘‘He [Hopkins] lets the players run things how they want to run it and he comes across with ideas that can challenge the senior players,’’ Brownlie said.
‘‘He has ideas that maybe we’d never thought of.
‘‘We wanted to play with freedom, but it’s easy to say that than do it.
‘‘We wanted to make sure we were accountable to each other, be aggressive, be positive - obviously read the game situation but we’ve got players to come in, certain type of players who can put bowlers under pressure and a batting lineup that goes a long way down.
‘‘If you don’t have a No 9 who can bat it’s hard to play positively. The way we got 100 was outstanding – the batters showed no fear.’’