Sinclair dazzles in CD victory

Central Districts 244 (Sinclair 78, Spearman 63, Englefield 54, O'Brien 5-35) beat Wellington 172 (Franklin 63, Schwass 4-27) by 72 runs
Scorecard

Central Districts qualified to host the final of the State shield after beating Wellington by 72 runs at the Basin Reserve.

However, CD had a mixed day. They were all out for 244 after reaching 228 for 3. Seven wickets fell for 16 and seven balls still remained when the innings came to a close. The collapse undid the good work of Craig Spearman, who hit 63 off 82, Jarrod Englefield (54 off 70) and Mathew Sinclair, who set the field ablaze with 78 in 59 balls. But, in only his sixth match, Iain O'Brien grabbed 5 for 35 to start the demolition.

Wellington started poorly, teetering at 46 for 4 before a stand worth 95 between James Franklin and Michael Parlene kept them in the running. Franklin scored 63, while Parlene had 31. However, with Andrew Schwass prising out 4 for 27, Wellington could manage only 172 and slipped to defeat by 72 runs.

Northern Districts 290 for 6 (Vettori 109, Marshall 69) beat Auckland 178 (Barnes 48, Aldridge 4-43) by 112 runs
Scorecard

Northern Districts continued Auckland's one-day humiliation by scoring a crushing 112-run victory at Eden Park's Outer Oval today. The win ensured that ND would play Canterbury in Wednesday's semi-final.

Daniel Vettori opened the batting for ND after a period off with injury and celebrated his return with a fine century - his first. He scored his hundred off 119 balls, with nine boundaries. Eventually dismissed for 109 off 124 balls, he added 106 for the third wicket with Hamish Marshall, who scored 69. The momentum was maintained through the innings and ND reached one of the biggest scores of the summer with their 290 for 6.

Auckland were not helped by the loss of Kyle Mills, suffering an Achilles injury. He bowled only five overs, and at a cost of 35 runs. Paul Hitchcock took three wickets, but gave away 67. The batsmen were just as unspectacular. Only Aaron Barnes with 48 was able to break the bowling deadlock. The side managed to reach 178. The bowling effort was led by Graeme Aldridge, easily the most dominant bowler in the competition, who took 4 for 34.