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The Ford Trophy has taken a massive turn today with wins for Otago, Canterbury, and Auckland.
Canterbury vs Central Stags:
Canterbury’s solid start to the game against the Stags was able to set them up for a classy total on their home turf in Christchurch.
Chad Bowes and Henry Nicholls saw off the powerplay but Blair Tickner struck twice in two balls with Bowes going for 42 and Mitch Hay a first-ball duck.
Nicholls and Leo Carter picked up the momentum with a record 3rd wicket partnership for Canterbury as they put on 209 runs.
They saw Canterbury well into the last ten overs when Nicholls went for 138 with Ray Toole picking up the wicket.
Cole McConchie struck a couple of late sixes as he made 17, falling to Josh Clarkson.
Carter fell for 107, his second List-A ton.
Michael Rippon (5), Ish Sodhi (6), Zak Foulkes (12*), and Fraser Sheat (0*) saw Canterbury to their sixth-highest List A total of 349/8 from 50 overs.
Clarkson grabbed four wickets and Tickner got three.
Foulkes and Sheat tormented the Central batters early on as they slipped to 13/4.
Brad Schmulian (6) and Curtis Heaphy (0) went to Sheat whilst Dane Cleaver (1) and Josh Clarkson (4) fell to Foulkes.
Bayley Wiggins (6) and Will Clark (18) rescued the Stags out of a hole, but they soon were sitting at 42/6 and steering down being bowled out for their lowest List A score.
However, Doug Bracewell went big with his highest List A score of 94, but that was the only score of note for the Stags.
Ajaz Patel (5), Tickner (17*), Jayden Lennox (0), and Toole (0) saw the Stags through to 166 all out in the 40th over.
Foulkes finished with 3/25 whilst Sheat (2/10), Rippon (2/43), and Angus McKenzie (2/2) all grabbed two wickets for Canterbury.
Northern Districts vs Otago Volts:
Northern struggled to get going with Katene Clarke (0), Henry Cooper (7), and Joe Carter (4) falling early. Jacob Duffy grabbed Clarke whilst Luke Georgeson got the other two.
Pete Drysdale (28) and Brett Hampton (25) were able to work alongside Northern’s captain, Jeet Raval to get them close to the 150-run mark. Kris Clarke fell for a golden duck and Northern was 149/7.
Tim Pringle (11) and Ewald Schreuder (10) along with Matt Fisher (8) did manage to add a few lower-order runs with Northern bowled out for 184.
Duffy grabbed three wickets while Georgeson, Matt Bacon, and Ben Lockrose all got two.
Georgeson and Jacob Cumming got Otago off to a good start with the bat before Georgeson was bowled for 28 by Fisher.
Cumminng and Volts captain Dean Foxcroft fell in quick succession of each other for 26 and 11 respectively with Fisher getting both wickets. Dale Phillips managed to add 12 to the total and fell just before the 100-run mark.
However, Thorn Parkes (47*) and Llew Johnson (46*) saved the day with the bat to get Otago past the total and to an important six-wicket victory.
Wellington Firebirds vs Auckland Aces:
The majority of the Wellington batters were able to get started, but no one could push forward to make a score of note.
Nick Kelly (23), Troy Johnson (17), and Muhammad Abbas (15) all fell inside the first half of the innings with Wellington having just over 100 runs on the board when Abbas was stumped.
Nick Greenwood was at the other end and was chipping away with runs as he made his way to 70, before falling to Jock McKenzie.
Callum McLachlan fell only four runs after Greenwood’s dismissal for 22.
Youngster Jesse Tashkoff had ideas and went flying as he put on 77 from just 55 balls and alongside Nathan Smith’s 18, Logan van Beek’s 15, and Peter Younghusband’s 15* they saw Wellington to 285/8 from 50 overs.
McKenzie, Louis Delport, and Ben Lister all finished with three wickets.
Auckland lost two early wickets with the dangerous Finn Allen falling for six and George Worker making ten. Ollie Newton picked up both wickets.
Robbie O’Donnell and Mark Chapman then took the game away from the home team with a 143-run stand for the third wicket.
Auckland did lose Chapman for 90 and Will O’Donnell came out and struck 27 from 30.
Robbie O’Donnell at the other end however was looking like he’d guide the Aces home to a victory but was run out with just 1.5 overs left to go.
Ryan Harrison couldn’t add anything to the total with the job being left to Cam Fletcher and McKenzie.
With one run to win from the final ball, McKenzie was able to find the gap and get the ball to the boundary to give the visitors a win on the last ball by four wickets.
The loss by Wellington also meant they were out of the race for a finals spot.
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