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A blistering 43 off 21 from Auckland opener Martin Guptill delivered the State Auckland Aces another win as they beat the State Wellington Firebirds by five wickets at the Basin Reserve in Wellington.
The Firebirds made 145 for nine after being put into bat by the Aces with Captain Stephen Fleming leading the way with 57 off 35.
Apart from Fleming’s half century the scorecard looked dismal with Matthew Bell next best with 22.
Auckland quick Greg Morgan was effective with three for 16 with Rob Nichol picking up late wickets to finish with four for 37.
The Aces batsmen got home by hitting a six and four off the first two balls of the final over.
There were useful contributions from Richard Jones (22), Scott Styris (26), Rob Nicol (28) and Steven Croft (20) to back up Guptill’s fireworks.
James Franklin took two for 35 with Graham Napier taking two for 36 but there weren’t enough runs to play with for the Wellington attack.
The Auckland Aces have notched up five wins from six matches in the State Twenty20 and are second on rate-rate to the Otago Volts. The Wellington Firebirds have three wins and are in fourth place.
