Game Sitch

The Auckland Aces once again struggled with the bat against the Central Stags, only posting 225 with Colin Munro's 50 the top score. Bevan Small was the chief destroyer with 4/47 off his 10 overs which was then backed up with a solid effort from the Stags' batsmen led by Ben Smith's 74. The Stags chased it in 45 overs, 5 wickets down.
The Northern Knights managed to chased down another seemingly mediocre (after a whole lot of 300+ scores) 249 from the Canterbury Wizards thanks to 73 off 63 balls from impressive young all rounder Mitchell Santner. Old dawg Brendon Diamanti and Todd Astle both hit half centuries for the Cantabs but Santner's innings and a 50 from the in form Daryl Mitchell did the trick for the Knights. Scott Kuggeleijn for the Knights and Logan Van Beek for the Wizards both grabbed 3 wickets from their 10 overs.
Wellington vs Otago. 123 from Stephen Murdoch and a 50 from Michael Pollard helped set the Volts 264, which they couldn't quite manage. Aaron Redmond top scored for the Volts with 64, but Brent Arnel's 4/33 off 8 overs did the trick. Neil Wagner bowled well for the Volts earlier in the day, with 5/39 off his 10 overs.
The Auckland Aces did a fairly good job to restrict the Wellington Firebirds to 208 off their 50 overs with Alecz Day the only batsmen to pass 50 for the Firebirds, while Michael Bates finished with bowling figures of 3/20 off his 10 overs. The Aces chased 208 down in 39 overs thanks to 65 from Colin Munro and 44 from Craig Cachopa, despite the best efforts of Brent Arnel who bowled 10 overs for 33 runs with 3 wickets.

The 'Cachopa Effect' is obvioiusly still strong at the Basin - @wgtnfirebirds 87/4 and all 4 caught by a Cachopa #wfvaa #fordtrophy
— Auckland Cricket (@aucklandcricket) January 11, 2015

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Get That Man A Mean Feed

So many solid efforts, but we keep pretty lofty standards here so the likes of Bevan Small and Ben Smith can have a few lollies.
Stephen Murdoch on the other hand can have some bacon and eggs with a side of salmon and avocado, for free! Crikey, lucky we're not charging him for the salmon.
Neil Wanger, Wagnut mate you're a beaut. 5-for, well that can only result in a fresh salmon fillet on a bed of brown rice. Healthy and rewarding, look at us.

Observations From Observatory

Remember when Colin Munro played a few games for the Black Caps? It wasn't that long ago and the lad has put back to back 50's on the board ... get him in!
It's not too much of a surprise to see Canterbury and the Firebirds down the bottom of the table as they have very plain line ups. It is a nice surprise to see the Stags up in 2nd though as the CD lads haven't had the smoothest of times recently and they are definitely the forgotten team of domestic cricket.
Mitchell Santner continues to do everything, sensational.