ROUND FOUR (split round) • 2022/23
Seddon Park, Hamilton
8 December 2022
Northern Districts beat Auckland Aces by two wickets
Selected milestones
Tim Pringle: Maiden List A wicket for Northern Districts
Ryan Harrison: List A career best batting (45, previous best 43)
Neil Wagner: Third List A five-wicket bag (first for ND)
Neil Wagner: Career best List A bowling (5-31, previously: 5-34)
All images | PHOTOSPORT
The Auckland Aces headed to Hamilton still winless in their title defence, and up against an ND attack studded with international players. Would it be third time lucky for the defending champs, or trumped again?
Aces captain Robbie O'Donnell won the toss and batted, but the Auckland innings didn't go to plan, and wouldn't go the distance, bowled out in the 43rd over by the strong ND attack.
Veteran opening batsman George Worker had battled away for almost two hours for his 42 at the top, working the singles in increasingly windy conditions before becoming Kiwi-Dutch international Tim Pringle's maiden List A wicket for Northern Districts (the young spinner having previously picked up one wicket for The Netherlands in one-dayers).
Meanwhile, the all-star pace trio of Neil Wagner, Scott Kuggeleijn and Tim Southee (who conceded just 17 runs off his seven overs, making a rare appearance for ND in this format) attacked the other end, and soon had Auckland down some batting firepower at 77/4.
Wagner would go on to the third five-wicket bag of his List A career, the first for him in ND colours after two previous bags for the Otago Volts.
It was a new career best for the fiery paceman as well, an outstanding return of 5-31 off his 8.5 overs.
Wagner had come back to unsettle the tail, and when he took the third of his tailend victims, the northern neighbours had been bowled out for 186.
No one in the ND attack had gone wicketless, but they had been made to work for their lunch after a sixth-wicket fightback from Ryan Harrison and Ben Horne.
The pair knuckled down under pressure to add 47 and, after Horne was bounced out by Kuggeleijn after a typically positive, run-a-ball 24, young Adi Ashok chipped in to form another much needed stand with Harrison (above) who then surged on to a career-best 45 before the innings unravelled.
The chase proved to be a tight affair, but the Aces were forced to go home empty-handed again after the last two ND wickets eluded them.
Joe Carter's 57 was instrumental to keeping his side in the match as the Aces winkled out wickets at the other end.
When he fell at 150/6 in the 33rd over, a flurry through the tail would have had the Aces' hearts bounding, but although the managed to chip out to more big wickets in BLACKCAPS Neil Wagner and Tim Southee, Tim Pringle (a breezy 17 not out) joined Scott Kuggeleijn (18 not out) to rattle off the runs through the home straight, winning with just over nine overs to spare.
For the Aces, spinners Adi Ashok, Will Somerville and paceman Danru Ferns all finished with two wickets.
After a rematch with ND in Hamilton on Saturday, the Aucklanders will head to Pukekura Park for a doubleheader Grand Final rematch with the Central Stags on Tuesday and Thursday next week.
