Auckland cruise to 33-run win

Auckland's top order all chipped in with handy scores to take the team to 194 and help engineer a 33-run victory against Central Districts at Eden Park.

Auckland, electing to bat, raced to 52 in 4.4 overs before the opener Chris Nash departed for a 20-ball 41 having hit six fours and two sixes. Central Districts, led by Doug Bracewell who finished with 3 for 46, continued to pick up wickets at regular intervals, but Auckland continued to score at more than nine an over.

Auckland were 151 for 5 in the 17th over, but Colin de Grandhomme blasted two fours and four sixes during an unbeaten 44 to propel the hosts to a mammoth total.

Central Districts, in reply, lost three wickets inside nine overs to stumble to 70 for 3, before Carl Cachopa and the captain Kieran Noema-Barnett led a recovery with a fourth-wicket stand of 62. However, needing 62 from the last four overs, the team were always facing an uphill task, and in the end, Central Districts could only finish at 161 for 7 from their 20 overs. Lachie Ferguson and James Fuller both notched two scalps for Auckland.

The defeat left Central Districts rooted to the bottom of the table without a single win to their credit this campaign.