All-round Bruce Martin takes Auckland to big win

Auckland 392 (B Martin 114, Craig Cachopa 82, Aldridge 3-74) and 14 for 0 beat Northern Districts 208 (Yovich 106, B Martin 4-43) and 196 (Yovich 42, B Martin 3-63) by ten wickets
Scorecard

Seven wickets and a century from left-arm spinner Bruce Martin enabled Auckland to defeat Northern Districts by ten wickets at Eden Park. Auckland scored a commanding 392 in their first innings to gain a lead of 184, after which Northern Districts were bowled out for 196, narrowly avoiding an innings defeat.

After being put in to bat, Northern Districts started strongly to score 118 for 2, but eight wickets then fell for 90 runs as opener Joseph Yovich struck small partnerships with seven other batsmen to score 106, taking his team past the 200-run mark. Auckland's openers didn't begin as strongly, and they had lost six wickets for 150, but middle-order batsman Craig Cachopa, who is the brother of this season's prolific run-getter Carl Cachopa, struck a 168-run seventh wicket partnership with Martin to go well past their opponent's score. Cachopa was dismissed for 82, but Martin went on to complete a hundred.

The game had already tilted towards Auckland with the big lead and a collective bowling performance ensured a comfortable win. Yovich, the first-innings centurion, top scored with 42 and none of the other Northern Districts batsmen scored more than 24. At 150 for 9, an innings defeat was probable, but the last pair of Brent Arnel and Jimmy Baker took them to a 12-run lead. Martin took three wickets, to add to the four he had taken in the first innings. Auckland needed only eight deliveries to complete the chase. They move to third in the points table.