Trent Boult starred with the ball, then with the bat, as Northern Districts star-studded side narrowly avoided abject humiliation at Mt Maunganui today.
In the opening round of the Plunket Shield agauinst Otago, Boult took two wickets and his team was sitting prod after rolling the visitors for just 108.
But after lunch, their Black Cap-laden batting order crumbled.
Kane Williamson 1, BJ Watling 0, Colin de Grandhomme 0, Ish Sodhi 0 and Neil Wagner 0 combined for just one run, and at 58 for eight, then 82 for nine, an embarrassing first innings loss looked on the cards.
But, of course, you can never count at Boult, who proceeded to smash 61 off 37 balls, to haul his side in front, eventually ending on 136.
The Black Caps travel to the United Arab of Emirates for three T20s, three ODIs and three Tests against Pakistan later this month with the first T20 set to start on October 31.
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