Auckland v http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Auckland-c766 on path to victory
The heroics of the Auckland Aces’ http://www.senore.com/Cricket/KD-Mills-c1781 and Bruce Martin, both of whom claimed 5-wicket hauls, limited the Canterbury Wizards to posting a final target of 219, of which the Aces completed more than half in their ongoing Plunket Shield match, courtesy
Tim McIntosh’s half-ton. The Aces finished the third day, at the Eden Park No 2 in Auckland on December 18, trailing by just 66 runs, with 8 wickets still in hand.
The Wizards had initially seemed to be in the lead when they declared after posting a first innings total of 405, courtesy stellar performances from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Todd-Astle-c2697 (50), and Gareth Andrew (180*).
The Aces had appeared to be in a tough spot in the earlier stages of their first innings, with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/GJ-Hopkins-c1490 (96*) and Kyle Mills (61*) at the crease,
things were beginning to look promising, and the second day of play ended with the Aces at 264 for 7.
Day three saw both batsmen adding to their individual scores, and the partnership between Hopkins (122*) and Mills (70) swelled to 145 for the 8th wicket. Hopkins remained fixed at the crease, but Mills fell prey to McCone, after which Bhupinder
Singh (4) was dismissed by Nuttall, and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/William-Meehan-Lonsdale-c97593 (1), leaving the team all out at 307.
The Wizards had managed to maintain a lead, but Auckland took care of that during Canterbury’s second innings. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bruce-Edward-Martin-c48703 (18.2-5-45-5) launched a fierce attack which succeeded in keeping their opponents down to a low total.
Only four of Canterbury’s batsmen managed to surpass single-digit scores, and even these failed to make much of an impression. Dean Brownlie top-scored with a mediocre 39, while http://www.senore.com/Cricket/George-Herrick-Worker-c59349 (19), Gareth Andrew (19), and skipper Tom Latham (15) all chipped
in with small scores. The remainder of the batting order remained lacklustre, and Canterbury were eventually bowled for a meagre 120, setting the Aces a final target of 219 to chase.
Auckland got their second innings off to a steady start, with openers http://www.senore.com/Cricket/TG-McIntosh-c2658 (51*) setting up a 71-run partnership. Vincent was swept off the crease by McCone in the 9th over, but McIntosh soldiered on, and set up a
54-run stand with Reece Young (31).
Their combined efforts got the team up to 125, after which Young was caught out by Brownlie off Gareth Andrew. However, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Craig-Cachopa-c51669 (18*) joined McIntosh at the crease, and both remained unbeaten until the end of the day, getting the team up to 153 for
2 by stumps on the third day of play.
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