Stags beat the rain and trump Aces
As soon as the coin landed on Wednesday, the Central Stags were given a challenge.
Could they become the first team to defend a total at Eden Park Outer Oval this Super Smash season, and advance to Saturday’s final?
Or would their first-innings score, however large or small, be no match for the Auckland Aces, who had chased down targets four times out of five, and had backed themselves to do it again?
The Aces were set 164 this time around and it proved to be too much, as the Stags won by 36 runs and booked their place in the decider.
With Seth Rance, Ben Wheeler and Blair Tickner in their ranks, the Stags can claim to have the best seam bowling attack in the competition, and they fired again to peg the Aces back early.
Jeet Raval (6 off 6) was nabbed by Wheeler in the second over, playing his first game of the season in place of the injured Robbie O’donnell, and he was shortly followed by Mark Chapman (7 off 8), who became Tickner’s 19th victim this campaign.
As the power play ended, the Aces were 35-2, and the required run rate had leapt from just over eight to well over nine an over.
Tickner struck again with the first ball of the seventh over, getting Glenn Phillips caught behind for 16 off 17 to leave the Aces in a massive hole.
The hosts’ best two batsmen Chapman and Phillips - were back in the dugout, and 164 was beginning to look insurmountable.
Sean Solia came and went for 12 off 8 - unable to get enough power behind a swipe against spinner Ajaz Patel - and he was soon followed by Sam Curran, who made the same score, but off three fewer balls.
Rain arrived just after Solia departed, but the Aces were well behind the par total – 73-5 at the halfway stage.
Horne went for a first-ball duck, LBW to Patel, who also accounted for Donovan Grobbelaar in his next over.
Aces captain Craig Cachopa was playing a lone hand, and when he fell for 38 off 27 in the 16th over, caught by Bevan Small, his side’s dreams were dashed.
The Aces were dismissed for 127 in the 18th over.
The Stags’ innings after being sent in was a struggle, for the most part, but in the end, their efforts were more than enough with Dane Cleaver smashing 54 off 33 balls.
Their reward is a clash with the Knights at Seddon Park on Saturday, where $80,000 is up for grabs for the winner.