Ronchi’s 45-ball 100 in vain in last-ball thriller

Normally, a 45-ball century in a T20 would be a match-winning performance.

But somehow Luke Ronchi’s efforts were in vain as the Wellington Firebirds somehow contrived to lose a thriller to the Auckland Aces.

His efforts setup a total of 206-7 from Wellington’s 20 overs at the Eden Park Outer Oval on Sunday afternoon, but Auckland chased that down with consecutive fours from the final two balls to win by two wickets. As good as Ronchi’s knock was, the final over decided the match.

Batsmen nine and 10 Tarun Nethula and Teja Nidamanuru were in needing 12 to win, with Ian McPeake bowling.

A dot ball was followed by a four to Nidamanuru over midwicket. It was then single, dot, before Nethula outside-edged a four to third man, leaving three to win off the last ball.

Another outside edge flew to the through about second slip to the boundary as the two bowlersturned-batsmen embraced each other in jubilant celebration.

The reason McPeake was bowling, or even playing, was because Wellington’s two best fast

bowlers, Hamish Bennett and Logan van Beek, were out injured.

McPeake and fellow pacemen Anurag Verma and Ollie Newton all went at more than 10.25 runs per over, while spinners Samit Patel, Jeetan Patel and Luke Woodcock all kept their run-rates under nine per over.

They also met an in-form Mark Chapman, who smashed 64 off 24 to get the Aces’ chase off to the perfect start. He even launched a delivery from McPeake into the main field at Eden Park.

Black Cap Martin Guptill, on the comeback trail from a hamstring injury, scored 29 off 22 balls before Verma got him caught on the boundary in the 8th over. Chapman looked on track to

better Ronchi’s effort before he was run out in the ninth over with the score at 102-3.English import Sam Curran hammered 50 off 27 late on to give the Aces hope, but was caught on the boundary in the second-to-last over, setting up the bowlers to provide their late heroics.

Ronchi retired from international cricket in June, but showed he still has plenty to offer when smashing seven sixes and nine fours. Typically, he brought up his hundred with a massive six down the ground.

Ronchi’s knock saw him equal both Jamie How and South African Richard Levi for the second-fastest T20 century in New Zealand.

He was caught on the long-off boundary off the bowling of Teja Nidamanuru the next ball for 102. It was Ronchi’s first game of the Super Smash after competing at the T10 competition in Sharjah from December 14-17.

He led the Punjabi Legends team to the title, scoring 70 off 34 balls in the final on December 17, to go with knocks of 60 off 34 and

56 off 31 in other matches.

The teams have a return joust in Wellington today, while Canterbury, which has two wins from three matches, is away to winless Otago at Alexandra’s Molyneux Park.

● Meanwhile Northern Knights cricketer Anton Devcich’s live TV profanity has seen him cop a $900 fine, after he was successful in appealing against a one-match ban.

The former Black Cap was last Friday caught on air dropping an f-bomb and berating a TV umpire’s decision, while being the designated player miked up to the Sky commentators, during his side’s 32-run Super Smash

Twenty20 loss to the Wellington Firebirds in Hamilton.

His antics also brought about a halt on the use of player microphones as the authorities scurried to write up some proper protocols around their use.