Wellington Firebird's disappointing season ground on with a 67-run loss to Auckland Aces at the Basin Reserve today in the final round of the men's one-day competition.
The loss cemented Wellington's place at the bottom of the table, with two wins from eight starts.
Auckland set an intimidating 320-run target after winning the toss, former Black Cap Lou Vincent impressive in reaching 112 from 118 balls before he was bowled by Harry Boam in the 42nd over.
Gareth Hopkins' 54 from 48 balls and Greg Todd's 48 from 45 provided valuable support as Auckland batted out their 50 overs with one wicket in hand.
Wellington captain Grant Elliott went through seven bowlers, but only DeWayne Bowden -- with figures of 3-47 off nine overs -- emerged with any credit.
Wellington never really got on top of the run chase, opener Stephen Murdoch's 56 off 62 balls the best effort as wickets fell regularly.
Honours were shared among the Auckland bowlers, Chris Martin, Colin de Grandhomme and Jeet Raval each picking up a brace.
Wellington finished fifth out of six teams in the domestic Twenty20 competition, and are winless after three games in the Plunket Shield four-day competition.
NZPA
