Worcestershire 2023 signing Mitchell Santner picked up two wickets in the final over to earn Northern Districts a dramatic two-run win over Wellington with just two balls to spare in a Plunket Shield encounter in Hamilton.
Santner struck with the third delivery to dismiss Gareth Severin (196), who was caught at long off.
The left-arm spinner, who will play for the Rapids in this summer’s Vitality Blast, then had last man Kieran McComb (0) taken at short leg from the next ball to spark wild celebrations.
He had pulled the game out of the fire for his side, with Wellington bowled out for 388 in pursuit of a 391 target.
Northern Districts have climbed to the second spot in the table, just four points behind leaders Canterbury.
Santner bowled almost 40 overs on day four and ended with overall second innings figures of 42.4-8-119-4 in a marathon effort which followed on from his eight wickets against Central Districts last week.
Wellington resumed on 17-1, and a partnership of 176 between Michael Snedden (90) and Severin lifted the total to 195-2.
Santner then dismissed Snedden, who was caught behind by Tim Seifert and followed that up by accounting for Muhammed Abbas (8).
Wellington looked strong favourites to an unlikely win after reaching 386-7 before Santner made his crucial last-over intervention.
It was another example of the match-winning touch that Rapids supporters will be hoping Santner can demonstrate during the Blast, which gets underway in May.
