KEY POINTS:
Auckland's winning start to the Twenty20 cricket season is over after Canterbury snatched a two-wicket win off the penultimate ball at Eden Park yesterday.
Todd Astle heaved a Chris Martin ball over midwicket for four to lift Canterbury to 163 for eight off 19.5 overs in response to Auckland's 159 for seven.
The difference for Canterbury in an even contest was the strike bowling of Shane Bond and some power hitting in the middle order from Shanan Stewart, Corey Anderson and Carl Frauenstein.
Bond took three early wickets which reduced the hosts to 21 for three, while the former New Zealand pace bowler also chipped in with a late runout. English import Steven Croft struck 50 off 42 balls for Auckland while Luke Vivian's 30 off 21 balls included three sixes. Canterbury's chase was relatively circumspect through the first half but that changed when Stewart raced to 36 off 26 and Anderson 23 off 13. Frauenstein's late cameo of 27 off 16 helped seal the deal, helping Canterbury join Auckland on two wins through three rounds.
James Franklin continued his blistering start as Wellington beat Northern Districts by six wickets at the Basin Reserve. Franklin raced to an unbeaten 63 off just 30 balls as his team glided to 164 for four off 17.2 overs in response to Northern's 163 for seven.
The left-handed allrounder slammed five sixes and three fours in an innings that follows his 50 off 28 in the opening win over Central Districts and 31 off 21 in the loss to Otago on Friday. Three of his teammates reached the 20s at a good rate, including captain Stephen Fleming, who scored 26 of his 28 runs yesterday from boundaries.
One-day champions Northern slumped to their third loss, with the bowlers struggling yesterday and only captain James Marshall going on with the bat - unbeaten on 58 off 52 balls.
Wellington spinner Luke Woodcock was effective, taking three for 27 while Graham Napier claimed two for 25.
Otago snared the outright lead in the championship with a 23-run win over Central Districts in New Plymouth. Operating from the same template that saw them post easy wins over Canterbury and Wellington, Otago batted first at Pukekura Park and cleared 200 before turning the screws on their opponents.
Opener Aaron Redmond led the way with 67 off 46 balls as his team reached 206 for four. Captain Nathan McCullum finished things off with an unbeaten 40 off 22, topping off some rapid knocks of 35 and 31 from Hamish Rutherford and Greg Todd.
Central raced along at 10 runs an over for much of the response but the loss of captain Mathew Sinclair for 61 off 42 balls slowed the rate enough for Otago to take control. The chase ended at 183 for eight, with Kieran Noema-Barnett the other notable contributor, scoring 38 off 18. Otago seamer Warren McSkimming claimed three wickets for 33.
- NZPA
