Knights beat Aces by 101 runs

The Northern Knights are finally on the board in the Ford Trophy, after beating the Auckland Aces by 101 runs on Sunday.

Having been set 303 to win, the Aces never really got going at the Eden Park Outer Oval.

Daryl Mitchell's 39-ball 55 helped the Northern Knights to an insurmountable 302 for eight against the Auckland Aces on Sunday. Photo: Chris Hillock/Fairfax NZ

Two wickets apiece to seamers James Baker and Brett Hampton reduced them to 60 for four inside 15 overs, and from that position, they were always going to struggle to chase the Knights' total down.

Rob O'Donnell offered the strongest resistance, top-scoring with 62, but when he was dismissed in the 32nd over, leaving the Aces 150 for seven, the jig was up.

James Fuller and Donovan Grobbelaar combined for a niggly 47-run stand, but once the latter fell, bowled by Hampton, the rest followed swiftly, as the Aces were dismissed for 201 in the 41st over.

Hampton finished with career-best figures of four for 30, while Jono Boult took three for 47, including the scalp of O'Donnell.

Where the Aces' early failures ultimately proved too much to recover from, the Knights did an excellent job of turning things around in their innings, after being asked to bat first by Aces captain Brad Cachopa, who was deputising for the absent Colin Munro.

Fuller, making his one-day debut for the Aces as a replacement for the injured Matt Quinn, struck early to leave the Knights reeling at 17 for three, dismissing Dean Brownlie for his second duck in a row, Daniel Flynn for seven, and newly-promoted Tim Seifert for one.

At that point, Anton Devcich and Corey Anderson came together, fighting back with a 141-run partnership - a Knights record for the fourth wicket against the Aces - before Devcich fell in the 30th over for 53.

When Anderson departed seven overs later, nicking one behind off Lockie Ferguson just two short of a century, the Knights were 184 for five, and in real danger of failing to post a competitive target.

Then up stepped an unlikely hero, Daryl Mitchell - who had scored at a strike rate of 52 in the Knights' first two matches - to hit a 39-ball 55, as they piled on 118 runs from their final 14 overs, giving their bowlers something to defend, which they duly did.

The Knights will now lose Anderson, at least for their next couple of matches, as he links up with the Black Caps for their Twenty20 internationals against Sri Lanka.

They will also be concerned about the status of fast bowler Scott Kuggeleijn, who left the field with a side strain and was unable to finish his seventh over.

The Knights' bonus-point win moves them off the bottom of the table and ahead of the Otago Volts into fifth, while Auckland remain second, three points behind Canterbury.

Both other games on Sunday ended with no result.

In New Plymouth, Central Districts and the Otago Volts never got on the field, while in Christchurch, Canterbury and the Wellington Firebirds could only manage 5.4 overs, after the start of their game was delayed by more than two hours. In those 34 balls, Canterbury's seamers combined to reduce the Firebirds to 32 for three, before the rain set in again.

The Ford Trophy continues on Wednesday, when Auckland host Wellington, Central host Northern, and Canterbury host Otago in the fourth round of eight.

AUCKLAND ACES v NORTHERN KNIGHTS At Eden Park Outer Oval, Auckland

NORTHERN KNIGHTS
D Flynn c Cachopa b Fuller 7
D Brownlie c Cachopa b Fuller 0
T Seifert b Fuller 1
C Anderson c Cachopa b Ferguson 98
A Devcich c Raval b O'Donnell 53
B Watling c Chapman b Fuller 39
D Mitchell c Nethula b Ferguson 55
S Kuggeleijn c Chapman b Ferguson 13
B Hampton not out 11
J Boult not out 8

Extras: (b 0, lb 3, wd 12, nb 2) 17

Total: (for 8 wickets, 50 overs) 302

Fall: 0, 7, 15, 156, 184, 251, 275, 283

Bowling: (Ferguson 10-1-60-3, Fuller 9-2-54-4, Grobbelaar 8-1-60-0, Hicks 1-0-14-0, Nethula 10-0-55-0, O'Donnell 9-0-39-1, Chapman 3-0-17-0)

AUCKLAND ACES
J Raval b Baker 0
G Phillips c Kuggeleijn b Hampton 25
B Cachopa c Hampton b Baker 15
R O'Donnell c Brownlie b Boult 62
C de Grandhomme c Watling b Hampton 4
S Hicks c & b Devcich 18
M Chapman c Flynn b Boult 15
J Fuller not out 33
D Grobbelaar b Hampton 20
T Nethula c & b Boult 2
L Ferguson c Watling b Hampton 1

Extras: (b 0, lb 1, wd 3, nb 2) 6

Total: (for 10 wickets, 40.3 overs) 201

Fall: 0, 24, 52, 60, 110, 143, 150, 197, 200, 201

Bowling: (Baker 8-0-41-2, Kuggeleijn 6.5-1-32-0, Hampton 7.3-0-30-4, Mitchell 0.1-0-4-0, Devcich 10--1-46-1, Boult 8-0-47-3)

Result: Northern Knights win by 101 runs.

- stuff.co.nz

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