Mills, Bates lead Auckland to victory

Auckland 108 for 3 (Cachopa 41*) beat Canterbury 107 (Mills 3-14, Bates 3-18) by seven wickets
Scorecard

Auckland bounced back strongly from a loss to Wellington yesterday as they dusted Canterbury off by seven wickets, and with over eight overs to spare at Eden Park.

Canterbury won the toss and elected to bat, but the opening bowlers, Kyle Mills and Michael Bates, were all over the top and middle order as they were reduced to 31 for 6 in the eighth over. Tom Latham, batting at No. 4, anchored the innings somewhat with his 26, but fell to Kyle Mills in the 15th over. Some late hitting from Matt Henry (29) and Todd Astle (17) ensured Canterbury were able to cross 100, but they were dismissed for 107. Mills and Bates each finished with three wickets apiece.

Auckland began positively, with the openers putting on 31. But when Anaru Kitchen fell for a 13-ball 23, Canterbury sensed an opening as Henry dismissed Martin Guptill and Luke Wright off consecutive deliveries to leave the home side at 41 for 3.

But Craig Cachopa and Gareth Hopkins saw off the rest of the chase with an unbeaten 67-run stand. Cachopa was the top scorer with 41 off 21 balls, which included five fours and two sixes. With this result Auckland move to third place in the table, tied on eight points with Wellington, but are ahead on net run rate.