A combined effort with the bat has seen Auckland claim an important 42 run victory over Northern Districts in the Provincial A tournament at Lincoln.
Tim McIntosh (56) and Dusan Hakaraia (74) led Auckland to a total of 244 for seven, before their bowling attack limited Northern’s response to 202 all out after 46.1 overs.
The pursuit was hurt by the loss of wickets at crucial times. Just as a partnership looked to be established, Auckland would breakthrough and maintain the momentum.
Bharat Popli was the best of a number of starts with 49, but Northern needed someone to get close to a century if they were to truly challenge the total.
They reached 200, but couldn’t make it much further as Northern were dismissed with 3.5 overs left.
It was an all-round effort with the ball for Auckland, with six players amongst the wickets.
Earlier, all of the top four had made some sort of contribution to the Auckland total, with McIntosh playing anchor on his way to a half century.
The wily veteran played a sensible innings, with his 56 coming off 102 balls.
At the other end Hakaraia was going at a far superior clip, with the dynamic number four whacking his 74 from just 71 deliveries.
A few more starts filled in the gaps around the pair and took Auckland to a handy score just six short of 250.
Jono Boult was good with the ball for Northern, but required more support to apply constant pressure on the Auckland line-up.
