Southland comfortably defeated North Otago by eight wickets in the representative cricket match played at Gore during the weekend.

After being bundled out cheaply for 118 in their second innings. North Otago gave Southland 78 runs to get victory. This was duly accomplished in 57 minutes of entertaining batting - the game finishing just before the tea break.

Excellent weather conditions prevailed during the two days and the wicket was in good order although it began to crumble and was taking increasingly more spin the latter stages.

North Otago opened confidently in their first innings and some attractive batting was seen from Wain and Wilson. The total was also aided by aggressive run-making among the lower order batsmen.

Southland opened their innings in brilliant fashion and it was not until 87 runs were up that the opening partnership of Hollaway and Morton was broken. Thompson and Hollaway added a further 22 runs for the second wicket before Hollaway was out to Wilson for 67, including 10 4's and one six.

Placing his leg-breaks on a length Wilson claimed five of the eight Southland wickets which fell. The only other bowlers who impressed to any great extent were Cartwright and Grenfel.

North Otago's second innings looked like turning into a debacle,, but once more it was the tail-enders who offered the most resistance in bringing the score to more respectable proportions.

Medium-fast bowler Vear collected two wickets in this innings to finish eight wickets for 74 runs, while Hill was equally successful with eight wickets for 75 runs.

For the second time Hallaway, Morton and Thompson batted attractively. During the match these three players scored nearly two-thirds of Southland's runs.

Short Scorecard(s)

Representative - Hawke Cup - Zone Series

North Otago vs Southland at Gore
North Otago 193 ( G. Wain 43, J. Wilson 42, W. Harris 23, A. Phillips 16, R. Grant 14, A.E. Berry 11, Vear 6-68, Hill 3-40 ) & 118 ( W.B. Kerr 20, P. Grenfell 19no, R. Grant 18, A. Phillips 12, Hill 5-35, Vear 2-6, Holloway 2-31 )
Southland 234-8dec ( R. Holloway 67, N.R. Thompson 50no, A. Gill 36, S.G. Morton 21, D.J. Vear 18, J. Wilson 5-55, A.G. Cartwright 2-57 ) & 78-2 ( S.G. Morton 31, N.R. Thompson 19no, R.A. Holloway 11, P. Grenfell 2-20 )
Southland by 8 wickets
Full scorecard for the match