"It was a lot closer than the five wickets.
"[Auckland] kept answering back, I wouldn't be surprised to still see them make the final.
"They've got some good Sri Lankan players, who put the ball in funny angles.
"But our fielders were throwing themselves everywhere. We could have had another couple of run outs.
"Then Sammy controlled that middle part of it [the run chase]."
Auckland's middle order looked to regain momentum through Dinesh Kharel (26) and Connor Mckenzie (35 not out), but Sherriff took the catch to dismiss Kharel off the bowling of Marlborough's Tom Sutherland.
Central Districts then got through the Auckland lower order with Hawke's Bay vice captain William Clark (2-47), Taranaki's Jordan Gard (2-39) and Marlborough's Joel Lavender (2-39) doing the damage to dismiss them in the 49th over for 222.
Joel Clark was a little expensive with 30 runs taken from his five overs.
In reply, Central Districts started well with a 66 run partnership by Hawke's Bay openers Brayden Hill (61) and Sam Ferguson (20), before Auckland struck back with two quick wickets for 70-2.
Enter Sherriff, who worked with Hill for a 70-run partnership, and then carried on to make his half century off 59 balls, hitting five boundaries and a six.
Sherriff batted from the 16th to 42nd over, and by the time he was trapped in front by Mckenzie (2-37) for 52, Central Districts only needed another 19 runs to win with plenty of overs to get them.
Nelson's Finn Restieaux (37 not out) had gone on the attack with six boundaries and a six in his 28-ball innings, as Central Districts reached 224-5 in the 44th over.
This morning, Central Districts are playing Northern Districts on the Bert Sutcliffe Oval, having won the toss and elected to bat.
