ROUND FOUR • 2022/23
Pukekura Park, New Plymouth
13 December 2022
Central Stags beat Auckland Aces by 8 wickets
Bonus point win for Stags
Selected milestones
Greg Pennell (Northern Districts): List A umpiring debut
Ross Taylor: 2000th Ford Trophy match for Central Stags
Ajaz Patel: Career best List A bowling
Another all-round performance from the Central Stags has seen them pick up their third bonus point win of The Ford Trophy season, locked in an arm wrestle with Canterbury at the top of the table.
Meanwhile, alarm bells are ringing for defending national champions the Auckland Aces whose heavy eight-wicket defeat at Pukekura Park on Tuesday means they are now halfway through their regular season campaign without a win on the board.
In a rematch of last summer's Ford Trophy Grand Final, the Aces were sent in by Stags captain Will Young and lost three early wickets, Seth Rance going on to finish his duties with 2-20 off eight overs and forming a tidy a dangerous opening combination with Brett Randell.
Mark Chapman (run out on 47, after a sharp throw from Tom Bruce was finished off by keeper Dane Cleaver) and Robbie O'Donnell (51) provided a much-needed partnership.
But after the Auckland skipper's fall, Ajaz Patel zeroed in on his List A career-best bowling (3-31) to dismiss the Aces for 165 in 45 overs.
Even on a surface that demanded some care, that was never going to be mentally threatening at Pukekura Park.
Cleaver and Brad Schmulian responded with a 97-run stand for the first wicket, both reaching half centuries, and Ross Taylor provided an entertaining cameo for the spectators to finish off the match in a hurry with 39 not out off just 21 balls to seal the bonus point.
The two teams meet again at the same ground this Thursday, the fifth match for the Stags and sixth for the Aces.
