Auckland restricted Central to 77 for eight in the first innings of their final Twenty20 match of the Provincial A Tournament in Lincoln, setting up a comprehensive ten wicket victory.
Openers Jono Sole (50*) and Marc Ellison (19*) rushed to the total and ended the match after just eight overs. Earlier, Michael Stevenson had done his best to destroy the Central batting line-up with four wickets.
Apart from 32 from opener Dean Robinson and 11 from Greg Hay, no-one from Central managed to reach double figures.
The middle and lower-order both capitulated, with Ajaz Patel making an unbeaten nine to record the third highest total in the innings.
It had however been a brilliant display of bowling from the Auckland side, with Stevenson leading the way with devastating figures of four for 11 from four overs.
It left little work to do for the batsmen, but they did it in style anyway. Sole brought up his half-century off 32 balls, clubbing six fours and three sixes.
Ellison was also no slouch, with his 19 coming from 15 deliveries.
It capped off a solid tournament for Auckland, but they’ll be disappointed to have failed to defend their title from last year.
