ROUND 9 of 10
WELLINGTON FIREBIRDS beat AUCKLAND ACES by 7 wickets
18 February 2025
Cello Basin Reserve, Wellington
Points: Wellington Firebirds 4, Auckland Aces 0
All images: PHOTOSPORT
SELECTED MILESTONES
- Muhammad Abbas : List A career best bowling (3/34)
Twenty-one-year-old pace allrounder Mo Abbas enjoyed a good day with both ball and bat as the capital cricketers kept their Ford Trophy finals hopes alive, in a thrilling, down-to-the-wire match that saw the Auckland Aces lose their grip on the top of the ladder.
The Firebirds now need to beat the Stags in Sunday's last round in a three-way race with the Stags and Volts for the last available spot in Dunedin.
*
The Firebirds really needed this one, and it went down to wire in a hard-fought game against a top-of-the-table Auckland Aces side that had some big guns back in the form of Jimmy Neesham and Ben Lister.
But the high rollers from the big smoke would leave the Basin empty-handed, albeit already with a place in the Finals secured.
The day did not initially look promising. The teams were greeted by the covers on at the Basin, and a fresh breeze, and the match was a waiting game until the umpires finally gave the all-clear for 31 overs per side.
Firebirds captain Nick Kelly won the toss and unsurprisingly sent the Aces in, agains his opening attack of Adam Milne and Liam Dudding.
Dudding struck early, Sean Solia gone, but Finn Allen and Jock McKenzie combined for a good second-wicket stand of 67.
Always seeming to find a way to impress, McKenzie would top-score with 50 on the button in the Aces’ 194/6, but the hosts fought back with the ball as Mo Abbas went on a giant-killing spree — claiming career-best figures of 3/34 with the useful wickets of Allen (45), Jimmy Neesham (7) and Bevon Jacobs (29).
The Firebirds lost opener Tim Robinson early in reply, in thoroughly luckless fashion — the ball popping up from a defensive shot as he jammed down on a Ben Lister yorker, only for it to fall onto his stumps.
Lister wasn't sure whether to laugh or appeal. Maybe both.
Abbas proved the key to controlling the chase, reaching his 50 in great time, off just 28 balls, before Neesham took his revenge with a return catch.
It put the hosts a bit ahead of the asking rate, and the Firebirds had just enough time to reach their target.
Captain Nick Kelly slapped Neesham for six a couple moments later, while Jesse Tashkoff’s unbeaten 84* — backing up his 148 in the previous game — got the Firebirds got across the line for a seven-wicket win with just one ball to spare.
The Aces' loss meant Canterbury meanwhile bounced to the top of the table, setting up a showdown between Canterbury and the Aces in Rangiora on Sunday to determine which team will get direct entry to The Ford Trophy Grand Final, the loser to head to the Elimination Final long route.
The Firebirds meanwhile were in a three-way race, now, for the last spot in that 2v3 eliminator.
