The Auckland Aces and Canterbury Wizards couldn’t be separated in the Men’s One-Day match ending in a 287 run tie at Colin Maiden Park in Auckland.
Five runs were required off the last over, bowled by Canterbury Wizard Carl Frauenstein, and that became one off three balls.
Frauenstein managed to find his radar, bowling out set batsmen Aranu Kitchen before ripping through Lance Shaw with his very next ball to leave the Aces needing one run off one ball with one wicket in hand. Number eleven batsman Michael Bates hit it straight to Shane Bond who combined with Johannes Myburgh to complete a run out and tie the match.
Earlier Michael Papps hit a superb 122 at the top of the order for the Wizards to set up their competitive total. It is Papp’s nine One-Day century and included 11 boundaries and three sixes. He has now moves into third spot on the Men’s One-Day MVP points table.
Contributions also came from Peter Fulton (47), Myburgh (35) and Shannan Stewart (32)
Ravi Bopara was the pick of the Aces bowling attack with three for 44 including the valuable wickets of Papps and Fulton.
Half centuries from Bopara (53) and Scott Styris (71) built Auckland’s total with Reece Young (47) and Gareth Hopkins (48) also chipping in.
Strike bowler Bond returned three for 54 with opening partner Chris Martin picking up three for 56 as Canterbury bowled themselves into a position of strength early on and came back strongly late in the match but the middle period belonged to the Aces.
The result sees the Auckland Aces remain at the top of the table with the Canterbury Wizards back in third.
