Canterbury down Central Districts twice in three days

Canterbury 185 for 5 (Diamanti 69*, Ellis 55*) beat Central Districts 180 for 3 (Young 40*, Ben Smith 39) by five runs
Scorecard

Canterbury recorded their second straight win in Nelson, where their score of 185 proved to be just out of reach for Central Districts. Electing to bat after winning the toss, Canterbury's innings was held together for the first half by Rob Nicol, who took them past the 50-run mark. But his wicket was followed by two more, leaving them at 73 for 5 in the eleventh. Andrew Ellis and Brendon Diamanti took charge from there, though, and clobbered 112 runs off 57 balls with 17 boundaries, including eight sixes. Maiden HRV Cup fifties and personal best scores for both the batsmen helped Canterbury reach the challenging score of 185.

Central Districts were off to a flier as openers Mathew Sinclair (38) and Ben Smith put together 68 runs at more than nine runs per over before Smith was run out. Twenty-year-old Will Young and captain Kieran Noema-Barnett (38) then added 61 runs off 46 balls but couldn't find boundaries regularly. The required rate went up and when the partnership was broken, Central Districts needed 32 off 14 and they eventually fell short by five runs.

This was only Canterbury's second win in six games, the other one being against the same opposition at the same venue on January 1. Central Districts have just one win from six, and sit at the bottom of the table right below Canterbury.