The Aces had been asked to bat first at their fortress and openers Sean Solia (31) and Glenn Phillips (24) took the attack to the Knights straightaway.
Mark Chapman continued his dominant form with the blade peeling off another half century in quick time.
Chapman found the rope six times and went over it a further three bombs in his innings of 57 off 30 balls, ensuring the Aces' innings had impetus.
Despite losing the middle order cheaply, Sam Curran and Robbie O’Donnell joined forces in the 13th over and went about guiding the Aces through to a defendable total.
The pair batted well together, O’Donnell (21) rotating the strike while Curran combined brutal hitting with delicate finesse to find the boundary eight times in his unbeaten innings of 48.
With 202 for five on the board after 20 overs, it was nevertheless going to take a strong effort with the ball on the tough-to-defend Outer Oval.
Spinner Ronnie Hira was masterful at the top of the innings, claiming two caught and bowleds in his opening spell for the hosts – his first an acrobatic effort reminiscent of his time in the national side.
However, the Knights started to get into their work. Opener Anton Devcich (76) was especially brutal, pummeling eight fours and five sixes and striking at over 200.
When the impressive young Ben Lister put an end to that carnage by striking twice in the 11th over, the Aces held brief hopes of a comeback
But it was experienced heads Daniel Flynn (58*) and Daryl Mitchell (50*) who saw the visitors home in the 17th over for the ultimately comfortable win.
The win puts the Knights clear on top of the Burger King Super Smash ladder, six points adrift now with the Aces still holding onto second spot.
The Aces will look forward to Wednesday when they host the Kings 4:10pm, again at Eden Park Outer Oval.
Article courtesy of Auckland Cricket
