Wellington won both of their Twenty20 matches on the penultimate day of the Provincial A tournament at the New Zealand Cricket High Performance Centre in Lincoln and in doing so secured the trophy with a five point lead over Auckland in second place.
In the morning match, Wellington held off Canterbury by four runs to regain poll position in the tournament. They were helped by Otago, who beat Auckland in a thrilling Eliminator-over to upset the defending champions and reduce them to second place.
Northern Districts also picked up a tight victory in the sixth round, with a dramatic final ball win seeing them past Central Districts.
The afternoon encounter between Auckland and Wellington loomed as decisive in who would take home the silverware tomorrow. Wellington posted an imposing 197 in the first-innings, before managing to restrict Auckland to 189 for six - still eight short of victory. It guarantees Wellington the title, regardless of what happens in their final match against Northern Districts.
In the other afternoon matches, Otago made it two from two in the Twenty20 format with a nine run win over Northern Districts, while Canterbury topped Central by 37 runs to pick up their second triumph of the tournament.
Despite being a part of a losing effort, Auckland’s Cam Fletcher stole the show with the bat today. The 19 year-old scored an unbeaten 86 from 52 deliveries in his side’s match against Wellington, continuing the good form he has shown throughout the competition.
The final round tomorrow sees three teams vying for second place, with just one point separating them.
