Cricket: Mainland touch trumps Aces

By RICHARD BOOCK

Canterbury rediscovered their big-match temperament in the nick of time yesterday as they came back from the edge of hopelessness to beat Auckland by two runs in the first match of the Shell Cup finals.

Defending 185 in front of a woefully-small crowd of about 400 at Eden Park, the reigning champions looked gone for all money with ten overs left in game one, but struck back to take six wickets for 47 and steal a match they never looked like winning.

The result was doubly hard to swallow for the Aces, who had not been given a dog's show of beating their star-studded opponents in the first place and are unlikely to find themselves in a better position in the series - which continues tomorrow with the second match at Jade Stadium.

Auckland's task of scoring 50 off the final 10 overs with seven wickets intact initially looked straightforward enough, but Canterbury picked exactly that time to change gears in the field, with four run-outs and a much-improved second bowling spell from Chris Cairns guiding them home.

The game was effectively turned on its head in the 41st over when that livewire Chris Harris ran out Llorne Howell, who - although leading the Auckland run-scoring contribution with 62 - carelessly left his bat in the air as reached the crease, and was undone by a direct hit.

From that moment the match took on a dramatically different complexion, with Blair Pocock, after helping Howell add 72 for the fourth wicket, brilliantly run out by wicket-keeper Gareth Hopkins in the next over, leaving Auckland with two new batsmen at the crease and still requiring five an over.

Tama Canning miscued a couple of aggressive blows before offering Nathan Astle a steepling catch; Kyle Mills became the fifth of seven run-out victims in the match, Dion Nash holed out to Cairns, and Brooke Walker - after finding himself in another mix-up - virtually surrendered on the penultimate delivery.

Canterbury coach Garry MacDonald had predicted a straightforward win for his side, and while most of Auckland's cricketing public seemed to take him at his word, the Aces made things a shade more difficult.

For a start, they opened the bowling with left-arm spinner Mark Haslam, who was replacing the injured Chris Drum, and then managed to keep a lid on the scoring throughout the innings.

There was some early excitement as Mills bowled Astle first ball, and fair cause for optimism as the innings wore on, initially through some excellent bowling from Walker and Barnes - who ended with two for 19 - and later through some telling work in the field.

Doody and Harris were both run out by Adams, and Nash found Gary Stead short of his ground in the final over of the innings, as Canterbury struggled to come to terms with the slowish pitch and an opposition attack well-suited to the conditions.

In contrast to yesterday's game, Canterbury officials are predicting a crowd of around 8000 for Jade Stadium while the third match will be played under lights at the same venue on Tuesday - if required.