Auckland ACES 184 (RR O'Donnell 61, KDC Clarke 6/45) & 161 (MJ Fisher 6/45) lost to Northern Districts 295 (BR Hampton 59, JF Carter 58, A Ashok 7/103) & 51/1 by 9 wickets
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The ACES' rough start to the 2023/24 season has continued with a 9-wicket loss to Northern Districts at Kennards Hire Community Oval.

After last week's loss to the Central Stags, the ACES were hoping to get off to a better start against their Northern neighbours, but after ND skipper Jeet Raval won the toss and sent Auckland in, the frailty of their batting was once again exposed.

Will O'Donnell, Sean Solia, Quinn Sunde and George Worker were all shot out within the first 10 overs as Kristian Clarke extracted some movement from a helpful deck.

Captain Robbie O'Donnell found that the best form of defence was attack and took the sword to the ND pace bowlers. Cameron Fletcher played more watchfully from the other end and together they put on 71 runs before Fletcher fell to Brett Hampton for 20.

O'Donnell fell for 61 shortly after and it was left to the bowling allrounders Ryan Harrison and Simon Keene to lead the ACES to a respectable total.

They threatened for a while but the ND bowlers found a way through, dismissing Harrison and Keene for 23 and 18 respectively. The lower order toiled bravely but Clarke broke through once again, finishing off the ACES batters to end with career-best figures of 6/45. 

With a meagre total on a wicket that was flattening up by the minute, the ACES bowlers had their work cut out for them against a talented yet not entirely inpenetrable ND batting lineup.

Opener Henry Cooper took the attack to Danru Ferns and Sean Solia, putting on 56 for the first wicket with Raval before being dismissed by Ferns for 39. Raval brought up his 50 before also falling to Ferns. 

Adi Ashok found a way through ND's middle order as they looked to attack him, dismissing Tim Seifert and Katene Clarke to leave the opposition precariously placed at 138/5.

Joel Carter then stepped up to the plate for his side, rallying the middle order with niggly partnerships while Ashok continued to strike. 

The Auckland legspinner dismissed Scott Kuggeleijn and Carter to bring up his 3rd first class 5-wicket bag. 

After some late order hitting he then accounted for Kristian Clarke and Zane Gibson to end with figures of 7/103 as ND were finally dimissed for 295, an overall lead of 111.

This was a worrying deficit, yet not insurmountable as the pitch remained flat despite taking on some variable bounce. 

Batting again, Will O'Donnell and Solia fought hard for a while but Northern Districts found another bowling hero as Matt Fisher found a way through the ACES top order, dismissing O'Donnell, Solia and Fletcher in quick succession.

Auckland started day three on 81/3, still 30 runs from making ND bat again. Robbie O'Donnell became Fisher's fourth victim and it was left up to Quinn Sunde and George Worker to take the ACES to a respectable lead.

Together they got the ACES into the green before Sunde fell for 35 and Worker was dismissed for 16, both wickets going to Kuggeleijn.

From there on in it was one way traffic as Kuggeleijn and Fisher ran through the lower order, Fisher ending with career-best figures of 6/45 (coincidentally identical to Clarke's figures from the first innings).

With a chase of only 51 and rain looming it was understandable that ND weren't looking to muck around. Equally understandable was O'Donnell's decision to open with Ashok alongside Danru Ferns.

Ashok threw the ball up to try and entice some wayward hitting. Seifert and Henry Cooper were anything but wayward though, pulverising the young legspinner for 36 off two overs. 

Ferns countered with the short ball from the other end, dismissing Seifert in the process, but the damage was well and truly done during Auckland's second innings and the runs were mowed down in 4.1 overs.

The ACES now move on to another big challenge: facing Canterbury at Hagley Oval in Christchurch. Last season the ACES faced the same challenge, again after two loses, and went toe-to-toe with Canterbury as the match ended in a draw.

A similar result will be grabbed with both hands by the ACES.

Article added: Tuesday 31 October 2023