SKYCITY Northern Knights 257-5 in 50 overs (BJ Watling 97*, Daryl Mitchell 59) beat Auckland Aces 147 all out in 42.5 overs (Arag Verma 2-22, Scott Kuggeleijn 2-33, Donovan Grobbelaar 29) by 110 runs at Seddon Park, Hamilton
The SKYCITY Northern Knights got their revenge over the Auckland Aces for the opening round loss through some solid batting and effective bowling, but were unable to dislodge them from the top of the table.
On a pitch that made quick scoring difficult, Daniel Flynn made 34 before BJ Watling and Daryl Mitchell combined for 87 runs for the third wicket, ended when Mitchell was run out for 59. The Aces relied on their part time spin attack through the middle of the innings to control the home team's run rate. Watling made steady progress throughout to end the innings 97 not out, and was supported by Jono Hickey who made a quick 32, helping take their side to 257-5 in their 50 overs.
In reply, the Aces lost regular wickets with no one man really getting underway. The wickets were shared around the whole Knights attack, with Scott Kuggeleijn, Anurag Verma and Graeme Aldridge taking two each. Ish Sodhi was the only man to complete his ten, ending with1-25 having taken some punishment at the end of his spell. Despite Matt Quinn and Bhupinder Singh hanging on to make 33 for the last wicket the damage had been done, with the Knights bowlers giving their side a comfortable win by 110 runs.
