Northern Districts and Canterbury go into their eighth round Shell Trophy match at Whangarei on Monday with contrasting objectives.

Canterbury will be out to show that their occupation of the bottom of the points table, a distant eight points in arrears of next-placed Auckland and an impossible 20 points behind the leaders, along with their minus-13.1 net average per wicket are not true reflections of their ability.

Northern Districts, on the other hand, are in the logjam at the top of the table where just four points cover the leading three teams. However, with the table-toppers, Wellington and Otago, going head to head this round, Northern need a good win here not only to ensure they maintain contact with the top but also to improve their net average, which bears unfavourable comparison with the leaders.

Both teams go into the match from contrasting previous-round defeats. Northern come off a reversal against Central Districts in which they managed to turn a first-innings lead in Napier into an outright loss. Canterbury should have gained some confidence despite their failure to account for Wellington, falling just 39 runs short of the 411-run target set by the competition leaders.

Canterbury and Northern battled out a draw during their first meeting of the competition, at Rangiora in round three in the middle of December. It seems so long ago. On that occasion, the home side took the honours in a high-scoring battle for first-innings points that effectively destroyed any chance of either side picking up the big prize from the match.

The last time they met was on January 14 on this ground with Canterbury prevailing in a very low-scoring Shell Cup contest. Players and supporters alike will be hoping for better from the Cobham Oval pitch for this match. Otherwise the chances of the match lasting into the fourth day will be minimal.

Canterbury have made one change from the team that went close to Wellington, bringing in Shane Bond for Wade Cornelius. The 12 travelling to Whangarei are Gary Stead (captain), Harley James, Robbie Frew, Jarrod Englefield, Michael Papps, Aaron Redmond, Marcel McKenzie, Gareth Hopkins, Stephen Cunis, Carl Anderson, Ryan Burson and Bond.

Northern Districts will go into the match with the same 12 who played in Napier: Robbie Hart (captain), James Marshall, Michael Parlane, Mark Bailey, Hamish Marshall, Grant Bradburn, Matthew Hart, Joseph Yovich, Simon Doull, Graeme Aldridge, Bruce Martin and Alex Tait.

© CricInfo