KEY POINTS:
Auckland were semifinal certainties before taking the field against Central Districts yesterday, but their one-day title prospects hardly progressed at Eden Park in their final-round match.
Otago had already assured themselves of hosting this year's State Shield final. Auckland needed to beat Central Districts yesterday to overhaul Wellington and gain home advantage for the semifinal.
But despite a heroic late batting effort from wicketkeeper Reece Young, they fell 26 runs short of Central Districts' 232 on the outer oval.
Auckland will meet Wellington in the capital on Tuesday, with the winner booking a place in the final in Dunedin on Saturday next week, where the home side will chase their first one-day title since the early 1990s.
Auckland capitulated against CD yesterday in a display that hardly bodes well for their prospects. Call-ups to the tri-series in Australia have depleted Auckland through the campaign.
Englishman Mal Loye plus Black Caps Lou Vincent, Scott Styris and Kyle Mills have all headed across the Tasman, and a reshaped Auckland side lacked conviction yesterday.
Central captain Jamie How won the toss and batted, with the visitors relying on Peter Ingram's 61 and supporting contributions from Ewen Thompson (32), Greg Hay (49) and big- hitting Campbell Furlong (33) to reach 232.
Ingram fell to the catch of the match from Auckland captain Richard Jones, who ran and dived forward at long on to grab the ball centimetres from the turf. It was a rare moment of satisfaction for Jones and his side.
Auckland struck major trouble from the outset in their chase. Martin Guptill played on to the fourth ball of the innings from Thompson, and two balls later Jones tried a head-high hook and was caught behind.
From there on, Auckland's best hope came via a 61-run stand between Rob Nicol and Dave Houpapa, but wickets tumbled once they were parted on 115. The final blast came from Young, who hit 54 from 52 balls.
Young was joined by No 11 Chris Martin with 64 runs needed for victory.
Young smashed three sixes from Thompson's final over, the 44th of the innings, but that proved to be the end of his assault. He lapped a catch to backward square leg off Greg Hegglun in the next over.
ND v CANTERBURY
Grant Robinson took the opportunity to shine as he steered Northern Districts to a five-wicket win over Canterbury in Whangarei yesterday.
Seemingly well down the pecking order in the roll call of Northern Districts batsmen, Robinson grasped his chance with both hands in scoring a match-deciding 77 not out.
His contribution was crucial to his team successfully chasing down Canterbury's 228 for seven at Cobham Oval.
The early signs were not good for the home side, who slid to 75 for three in the 16th over before James Marshall and Robinson, appearing in just his second one-dayer this summer, turned things around.
These two put on 101 for the fourth wicket before Marshall departed for a well-crafted 51 off 55 balls.
Robinson was not to be deviated from his cause, and was there at the end when Northern Districts struck the winning runs with 19 balls to spare.
His share was a priceless 77 off 109 balls, including 10 fours, against a Canterbury attack which owed much to the parsimony of spinner Chris Harris, who conceded just 24 runs off 10 overs.
Earlier, Harris chipped in with a handy 38 and Shanan Stewart led the way for Canterbury with 73 off 116 deliveries.
A pleasing sight for Northern Districts was fast bowler Ian Butler, whose international career has been wrecked by injury, bowling eight overs with some success as he returned figures of three for 40.
The result of this match was largely academic, as both sides were out of contention for next week's playoffs.
- additional reporting: NZPA
