12 Jan 2022Our Northern Districts Men continued their Ford Trophy campaign today as they took on the Auckland Aces in Auckland. The side were looking to repeat their efforts from two days ago when they beat the same side by eight wickets.
The morning started very similarly to Monday as Joe Carter again won the toss choosing to bowl, and Cole Briggs again departed early. George Worker and Mark Chapman were then able to rebuild their innings and see the Aces through to 85 before Mitchell Santner had Chapman trapped in front. He would strike again two balls later to remove the dangerous Glenn Phillips without scoring. Our men would then have to wait another 27 overs for their next wicket as Rob O’Donnell and George Worker put on 185 runs for the fourth wicket. O’Donnell fell just short of a century, out for 95. A late flurry of runs helped the home side post 303/7 from their 50 overs. Zak Gibson finished with figures of 4/61 from his 10 overs, Mitchell Santner (2/47) and Brett Hampton (1/39) also picked up wickets. George Worker’s 132 was the top score for Auckland.
Our run chase was off to a horror start as Jeet Raval and Joe Carter were both gone within the first three balls. 2 overs later and Henry Cooper was also dismissed by Lockie Ferguson leaving us reeling at 11/3. Tim Seifert was the next go as Ferguson continued to rip through our top order. That brought Colin de Grandhomme and Mitchell Santner to the crease. The pair launched a counterattack and were able to put on 145 runs before Santner was dismissed for 74. Two good partnerships had our boys well in the hunt going into the final 12 overs but when Colin de Grandhomme departed for an incredible 126, our chances quickly fell away. Eventually going by 47 runs as we were bowled out for 256 in 39.5 overs.
Our focus now shifts to Friday night as we host the Central Stags at Bay Oval in the Dream11 Super Smash.
Photo Credit: Photosport
