2022/23 • ROUND 9
CANTERBURY lost to AUCKLAND ACES by 7 wickets
Hagley Oval, Christchurch
2 February 2023
Bonus point win for Aces
Selected milestones
List A debut: Mike Sclanders
List A career best bowling: Louis Delport, Matt Gibson
All images | PHOTOSPORT
Auckland's enigmatic showman has done it again.
Left-arm spinner Louis Delport has pulled career-best one-day figures out of the hat for the second time in just over a week, this time stunning Canterbury in today's Ford Trophy upset in Christchurch.
The Aces had headed to Hagley Oval needing to win to stay alive in the national one-day comp, and emerged with a bonus-point victory - after Delport's 4-17 off 10 overs helped roll Canterbury for just 131.
Delport's previous one-day best was 4-29 which he attained against the Wellington Firebirds just last week at the Cello Basin Reserve.
Today, after captain Robbie O'Donnell won the toss and bowled in a match relocated from Auckland after the 2023 floods, he went for a miserly 1.6 runs per over.
Delport enjoyed great support from young leg-spinner Adi Ashok (3-31, above) and Matt Gibson (a career best 3-17, including a double wicket maiden) as the strong Canterbury line-up disintegrated after having been sent in.
He came on in the 16th over with the hosts 70/3, and dismissed Ken McClure four balls later, and would add a couple of wicket maidens towards the end of his spell before Ashok finished off Canterbury in 38.3 overs.
Needing fewer than three runs per over in reply, the Aces made short work of the chase.
Cole Briggs (52, below) and George Worker (40, above) put on 93 for the first wicket before Sean Solia ticked off the winning run in just the 23rd over to put the full stop on a big upset.
The result keeps Canterbury in third spot on the table, while the Aces move off the bottom rung, leapfrogging the Firebirds.
The next Ford Trophy match is a free admission, top-of-the-table clash at Napier's McLean Park on Waitangi Day (Monday, February 6) where leaders the Central Stags will host Northern Districts, before Canterbury head to the same cauldron on 14 February for their last tilt at securing a Finals spot.
The top three teams at the end of the 10 rounds qualify for Finals in Queenstown, with the top placegetter gaining direct entry to the Grand Final.
