The Bay of Plenty representative cricket team roared back into contention in the 2011 Fergus Hickey Rosebowl competition by beating Northland on Tuesday.

It was day three of the Northern Districts one-day tournament being played in Taupo and comes after a loss to Hamilton and a rained out match on day two versus Counties.

The Fergus Hickey Rosebowl is played over the full season with a mixture of one and two day games, before the champion ND minor association titleholder is crowned in March of each season.

Batting first, the team from the far north battled for runs throughout on day three, with the Bay of Plenty bowlers attacking from the opening ball.

Bay skipper Jono Boult grabbed a four wicket bag with Tony Goodin making life difficult for the Northland batsmen taking three wickets for just eight runs.

Jason Donnelly, who has played first-class cricket, chipped in with two wickets as Northland was removed for just 123.

Outstanding fielding from the Bay side made Northland work hard for its runs and Bay all rounder Brett Hampton took an outstanding catch at a vital time.

While Northland won the early battle with the ball, a defiant knock for Bharat Popli got Bay of Plenty home for victory, for the loss of five wickets.

Popli was there at end with an unbeaten 67, and his partnership with Tim Clarke (10no) produced a winning partnership of 61 off 90 balls.

The Fergus Hickey competition is well and truly up for grabs, after the Bay provided Northland with their first defeat of the tournament – and Hamilton also lost their unbeaten record to Counties Manukau on the final day.

ND One-Day Tournament Results – Day Three

Northland 123 (Jono Boult 4/23, Tony Goodin 3/8, Jason Donnelly 2/17) lost to BOP 123/5 (Bharat Popli 67no)

Day Two

BOP 272/7 (Ben Williams 64, Bharat Popli 52, Brett Hampton 40) shared points with Counties Manukau 104/7 after 18 over when rain stopped play.

Day One

Hamilton 315/5 (Tony Goodin 2/48) defeated BOP 164 (Peter Drysdale 46, Bharat Popli 32, Jono Boult 27)