ROUND 4 of 10
AUCKLAND ACES defeated CANTERBURY by 7 wickets (DLS) - bonus point win
30 October 2024
Bay Oval, Mt Maunganui (Aces' home game)
Points: Auckland Aces 5, Canterbury 0
Captains Finn Allen and Cole McConchie | all images PHOTOSPORT
SELECTED MILESTONES
- Simon Keene: Maiden List A five-wicket bag
Sharp allrounder Simon Keene got a sizzling maiden Ford Trophy bag in a dramatic, top-of-the-table clash against former unbeaten leader Canterbury. Canterbury meanwhile narrowly avoided recording their lowest ever total, thanks to a modest tailend recovery.
#FORDTROPHY | How @aucklandcricket's good Keene man got his maiden List A bag. pic.twitter.com/nOJQFkCIIG
— #NZIII (@MargotButcher) October 30, 2024
Keene (5/29 in seven overs) formed a lethal combination with quick Lockie Ferguson (3/33 off nine overs) as Canterbury's experienced top and middle order went tumbling like dominoes after having been sent in.
The match had been delayed by unsettled, showery and windy weather for 90 minutes before Finn Allen won the toss, with the visitors (the Aces doing the hosting due to the unavailability of their own home grounds due to a Travis Scott concert at Eden Park) looking to stretch their buffer at the top of the table.
Lockie Ferguson was a terrifying foil | PHOTOSPORT
Both teams were coming off a good win the last time they'd got to play, and it should have been a good contest, but the Aces dominated throughout, never taking their foot off the gas.
Chad Bowes (trapped off Keene), Rhys Mariu (nicking behind off Keene), Mitch Hay (providing a good catch to a diving Jimmy Neesham in the slips off Keene), and Michael Rippon (caught behind off Ferguson) were all dismissed for no score in the rout, and tailender Sean Davey also departed for no score later in the innings - as Keene bagged one of his team's top four all-time bowling returns in Aces matches against this particular opponent.
It was Simon Keene's day | PHOTOSPORT
Canterbury had scrambled to avoid posting their lowest List A one-day total (which stands at 75, set way back in the 1973/74 season), after having been a perilous 59/7.
With an hour's hard graft by young allrounder Zak Foulkes (27), they managed to make it to 109 in 30 dramatic overs.
Ferguson and Simon Keene proved too hot to handle for the deposed leaders who not all that long ago were celebrating a record victory and Chad Bowes double century.
Now it was the Aces holding the cards at lunch in the reduced 44-over match.
By then, they had already ticked off 44 runs of the chase in 10 overs, for the loss of just one wicket. Only 55 further runs would be needed after the lunch break.
Will O'Donnell was 25 not out by lunch | PHOTOSPORT
Further interruptions for showers had seen the Aces' target revised to 107 and while Will O'Donnell was caught soon after the post-lunch resumption on 29, Sean Solia kept the short chase on track with the top score of 45.
A hopeless cause for Canterbury, the Aces brought it home in just the 22nd over.
Sunday's fifth round represents the halfway mark of the regular season (pre-Finals) and is the last one-dayer of the calendar year, after which teams will switch to Plunket Shield and Dream11 Super Smash modes before returning to the back half of The Ford Trophy in February 2025.
New leaders the Auckland Aces will be driving over to Hamilton to play Northern Districts; the Central Stags visit Canterbury in Rangiora and the Otago Volts will remain at home to host the Wellington Firebirds - all scheduled for 10.30am with livescores and free livestreams on NZC platforms.
