Auckland with the help of Colin de Grandhomme’s an unbeaten innings of 72 from 35 balls achieved victory against Canterbury. They lost the toss but played an extra-ordinary cricket. With this win they keep their hopes alive in the tournament.
They were reduced to 75 for 5 after medium-pacer Ed Nuttall ran through their top order with a career-best 3 for 17. But later part was belonged to an impressive partnership of 81 between de Grandhomme and SM Solia (29 off 21). That partnership came off just 42 balls, and took Auckland past their target of 151 with ten balls to spare. 21-year-old left-arm spinner Jeremy Benton was taken for 30 runs in his lonely over during the course of Auckland’s chase.
Canterburyafter winning the toss and deciding to bat first was helped by Cam Fletcher’s 37 and a 16-ball 35 by Andrew Ellis were the only significant contributions for Canterbury as they folded for 150 after electing to bat. Canterbury lost regular wickets, with legs-pinner Tarun Nethula returning career-best figures of 4 for 18, while pacers Donovan Grobbelaar and Tymal Mills took three wickets each in an innings where only five batsmen got into double figures.
Smart Score Card
Canterbury 150/10 (19.5 overs)
Auckland 156/5 (18.2 overs)
Result: Auckland won by 5 wickets, 10 balls to spare
