Wellington Firebirds had a few niggly turns to take on their way to Ford Trophy glory, in a final vs Otago Volts that was teetering on the edge of falling in favour of either team. Despite the Firebirds being firm favourites, champions have to ride the wave during such contests and stick around, which is exactly what the Firebirds did in chasing down the Volts target of 235.

The new-ball combo of Ollie Newton and Hamish Bennett had the Volts 57/7 as Newton dismissed both Otago openers in the first 7 overs, before Bennett tore through the middle order with 3w in the 10th over. With Josh Finne run out in the 16th over, Otago were 7w down and contemplating the possibility of being rolled on their home turf in a final.

DipPING

527 Likes, 2 Comments - Jimmy Neesham (@jimmyneesham) on Instagram: "DipPING"

That was until Dutch international Michael Rippon and Namibian international Christi Viljoen rectified the situation. Rippon hit 82 off 112 batting #7 and Viljoen was left not out on 87* off 102 balls, ensuring that the Volts made it to the 50 over mark. Bennett finished with 4w @ 4.60rpo and Newton had 2w @ 4.40rpo, then the Firebirds suffered the same loss of early wickets.

Wellington's top-five, featuring three of the top-five Ford Trophy run-scorers were dismissed within 17 overs. Otago skipper Jacob Duffy had the key wicket of opener Andrew Fletcher for 4, Anaru Kitchen had another in dismissing Devon Conway and then Rippon chimed in with a delivery that went straight into Jimmy Neesham's stumps. Suddenly Wellington found themselves in need of a rescue and as they weren't chasing a huge total, they simply needed their lower order to hang around and support Malcolm Nofal.

Nofal showcased his class, with 73 off 96 deliveries to anchor the rescue. The ball fizzed of Nofal's bat to the boundary when bowlers were caught too full, or short, however the composure and guidance of Nofal was the key here. Only 24 of his 73 runs came via boundaries, meaning that Nofal led the way in rotating the strike, ticking the scoreboard over and allowing Peter Younghusband time to suss out his work.

Younghusban managed 48 off 78 and with his wicket came Lauchie Johns, soon took over the leader status as he had to steer the Firebirds to victory with Newton at the other end. Johns did exactly that and while he only needed to score 24* off 20, the way Johns played was more notable than his numbers; the composure to guide good balls through to the third-man boundary was nek level.

Johns and Newton remained not out, as the Firebirds won with 8 balls to spare. There were a bunch of handy performances from either team and Rippon's runs, on top of 2w @ 4.70rpo was as good as Nofal's all round performance. Nofal didn't take any wickets, he only conceded 3.44rpo though and along with his clutch innings, I reckon Nofal was the big dawg in this final.

The similar nature of Nofal and Rippon's efforts reflect their standings in the Ford Trophy. Rippon's 2w saw him jump a bit ahead of Nofal in terms of overall wickets, yet Nofal took his 12w in 73.4ov while Rippon took 14w in 86ov and that results in Nofal averaging 25.08 to Rippon's 29.42avg. Nofal was also slightly more economical; 4.08rpo vs 4.79rpo.

That means both are in my 2018/19 Ford Trophy All Stars team...

Andrew Fletcher (Wellington): 618 runs @ 56.18avg/76.01sr, 3 x 100, 3 x 50.

Chad Bowes (Canterbury): 414 runs @ 46avg/81.65sr, 1 x 100, 2 x 50.

Devon Conway (Wellington): 411 runs @ 37.36avg/79.96sr, 4 x 50.

Craig Cachopa (Auckland): 412 runs @ 37.45avg/91.55sr, 1 x 100, 2 x 50.

Jimmy Neesham (Wellington): 503 runs @ 62.87avg/110.79sr, 2 x 100, 3 x 50 | 13w @ 32.23avg/5.81rpo.

Malcolm Nofal (Welllington): 269 runs @ 29.88avg/77.29sr, 3 x 50 | 12w @ 25.08avg/4.08rpo.

Michael Rippon (Otago): 300 runs @ 42.85avg/86.20sr, 2 x 50 | 14w @ 29.42avg/4.79rpo.

Ben Horne (Auckland - wk): 279 runs @ 27.90avg/85.84sr, 3 x 50.

Ollie Newton (Wellington): 20w @ 16.75avg/4.32rpo.

Jacob Duffy (Otago): 25w @ 19.40avg/4.83rpo.

Hamish Bennett (Wellington): 28w @ 14.42avg/4.35rpo.