Auckland sneak one-wicket win on last ball

Auckland 303 for 9 (Cachopa 80, Santner 3-70) beat Northern Districts 300 (Brownlie 118, Nethula 3-50, Bates 3-71) by 1 wicket
Scorecard

Auckland sneaked in a slender one-wicket win off the last ball against Northern Districts at home, chasing 301 in 50 overs. Auckland needed seven off the final over and two on the last ball with only one wicket left, and Matthew Quinn rescued them with a straight drive for four to collect four points for his team, keeping them at second place in the points table.

Auckland had strong contributions from their top-four batsmen. They first saw an opening stand of 69 and were later led by Craig Cachopa's 80 to go past 200. They were 213 for 3 in the 42nd over but once Cachopa was dismissed, five more wickets fell in the next eight overs, including Colin de Grandhomme who run out after a quickfire 17-ball 37. Donovan Grobbelaar (20 off 15) and Kyle Mills (18 off 9) kept them in the hunt but they were dismissed by left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner in successive deliveries in the 49th over, shifting the balance of the match again. Quinn's last-ball four eventually saw Auckland through.

Earlier, Northern Districts were steered by Dean Brownlie's hundred after they were asked to bat. They lost their first three wickets for 57 runs, two of them to legspinner Tarun Nethula. Brownlie then stitched two strong partnerships - of 109 with BJ Watling (40) and 71 in just 7.4 overs with Santner (40 off 30) to charge them towards 250 with his 118 off 130 which featured 14 fours and a six. A cameo of 33 off 17 from No. 8 Scott Kuggeleijn propelled them to 300 before they were all out in 50 overs. Nethula and Bates took three wickets each.

The match marked Mills' return after a groin strain had forced him out of the ODIs against Pakistan in the UAE in December. Mills, who is a part of New Zealand's World Cup squad, finished with 1 for 31 from his 10 overs after conceding only nine in his first spell of six overs.

Canterbury 356 for 3 (Nicholls 178, Broom 117) beat Wellington 271 (Franklin 102, Bennett 3-40, van Beek 3-51) by 85 runs
Scorecard

A massive stand of 291 runs between Henry Nicholls (178) and Neil Broom (117) charged Canterbury to a comfortable 85-run win, their second in seven matches. The victory was set-up with the score of 356 for 3 and three wickets apiece from Hamish Bennett and Logan van Beek later on, to put James Franklin's hundred in vain.

The toss went Wellington's way along with Ronnie Hira's wicket in the second over, but not much after that. The daunting second-wicket stand, Canterbury's highest 50-over partnership for any wicket, took them to two runs short of 300 by the end of 46 overs, before Nicholls, who scored his maiden List A hundred, fell, with 27 fours and a six. Broom also fell six balls later but 46 runs in the last three overs powered the score past 350.

Wellington lost their openers cheaply, both to Bennett in the first five overs. Brady Barnett (37) and Stephen Murdoch (55) revived them with a stand of 64 runs, along with Franklin's aggressive 87-ball 102 that featured seven fours and four sixes. Franklin didn't get much support from the lower order as three wickets fell in front of him in his attempt to take them towards 250. He was dismissed at the score of 239 with eight overs to spare and the match had slipped out of Wellington's hands by then.

Kruger van Wyk's maiden List A hundred and a fifty from Dane Cleaver lifted Central Districts from 60 for 5 to a four-wicket win against Otago in Dunedin. The win helped Central Districts hold on to their top position in the table.

Neil Wagner took three of the first five Central Districts wickets to fall, dismantling the top order but van Wyk and Cleaver stitched together a 112-run partnership for the sixth wicket, hauling the chase back on track. Central Districts were still 84 runs adrift of the target when Cleaver was dismissed for 74 off 70 deliveries but van Wyk and Doug Bracewell took the side past the target in the last over. Van Wyk was unbeaten on 114 off 115 balls, while Wagner finished with 4 for 32 off his ten.

Otago's innings was propped up by a fifty from Aaron Redmond and a fighting 42 from Wagner at No. 9. Michael Bracewell and Jesse Ryder got starts and scored 38 and 34 respectively but the innings suffered for lack of partnerships. After the 93-run stand between Michael Bracewell and Redmond, the next best partnership was 59 for the ninth wicket between Wagner and Bradley Scott that lifted the side past the 250 mark. Andrew Mathieson was the best bowler for Central Districts with 4 for 59.