Solia's 152 on debut drives Auckland to victory

Sean Solia smashed 152 off 127 balls on List A debut to set up Auckland's match-winning total of 295 against Northern Districts at Eden Park Outer Oval. Their whopping 161-run victory was secured by fast bowler Lockie Ferguson, who claimed career-best figures of 6 for 27 to raze Northern Districts for 134 in 27 overs. The margin earned Auckland a bonus point.

Coming in at No. 3 after Michael Guptill-Bunce was dismissed in the first over, Solia, 24, went on to hit 12 fours and eight sixes during his innings. He was the fourth man out, with the score on 232 in the 38th over, but Auckland slumped thereafter and were dismissed in 47.1 overs. The second highest scorer was opener Glenn Phillips, who made 34.

The Northern Districts chase had a horrific start, with both openers falling for ducks to Ferguson in the first over. Ferguson struck twice in the seventh over as well, taking wickets off successive deliveries to reduce Northern Districts to 22 for 5. Their No. 9 Daryl Mitchell top scored with 39 off 35 balls to eventually drag his team past 100. Apart from Solia, five other players made their debuts in the game - Ben Horne and Raja Sandhu for Auckland, and Zak Gibson, Freddy Walker and Peter Bocock for Northern Districts.

A collective performance from Canterbury's batsmen helped them chase down Central Districts' 296 for 6 with four balls to spare in Rangiora. Five of their top six batsmen went past 35, with debutant opener Jack Boyle making 43, and Todd Astle top scoring with 60 off 56 balls. Cam Fletcher remained not out on a run-a-ball 42 to secure a two-wicket victory. The finish was tricky: Canterbury needed 37 off 31 balls at the fall of their seventh wicket, but the tail gave Fletcher support to finish the job. Central Districts' Ben Wheeler had the best bowling figures of the game - a career-best 4 for 51 - but ended up on the losing side.

Defending champions Central Districts also had the three highest scores of the game after choosing to bat. George Worker made 90, Jesse Ryder scored 68 to go past 5000 List A runs, and 19-year old Josh Clarkson smashed 70 off 43 balls, his maiden half-century in his third List A game. Matt Henry, Tim Johnston and Astle took two wickets apiece for Canterbury. Canterbury also had to overcome the loss of their captain Andrew Ellis, who injured his thumb before the game, while a side injury allowed their fast bowler Kyle Jamieson to bowl only 2.5 overs in the Central Districts innings.

Wellington overcame a top-order slump to chase down Otago's 302 with three wickets in hand and 11 balls to spare in Dunedin. Wellington had been reduced to 5 for 89 in the 19th over before Luke Woodcock led the lower-order revival. Woodcock made 92 off 108 balls before he was bowled by Anaru Kitchen, while Matt Taylor smacked 56 off 38. Anurag Verma, who was unbeaten on 42, finished the game in the company of Jeetan Patel, whose 25 came off only 12 balls as Wellington got to 304 in 48.1 overs. Kitchen took a career best 4 for 49 in ten overs for Otago, who used as many as eight bowlers. James Neesham bowled only four overs, taking 1 for 21.

Neesham and Kitchen had also played vital roles with the bat for Otago, who were struggling at 44 for 3 in the 12th over after losing the toss. Neesham top scored with 65 off 56 balls, while Kitchen made 60 off 63. Michael Bracewell and Christi Viljoen also made half-centuries before Otago were dismissed for 302 in 50 overs. Viljoen was making a Ford Trophy debut, having played all his previous List A games for Namibia. Brent Arnel and Verma, who later played a vital role in the chase, took three wickets apiece for Wellington.