Canny Wizards engineer unexpected tie

It might be looked back upon as the over that saved Canterbury's season.

Having lurched from one listless defeat to the next in recent weeks, the Wizards recorded a dramatic tie against one-day competition leaders Auckland on Saturday and, in doing so, they also kept their semifinals hopes alive going into the last of the round-robin matches tomorrow.

With just five runs to get and three wickets intact, Auckland had Saturday's match by the throat as Carl Frauenstein stepped up to deliver the final over.

"I was bowling to Anaru Kitchen and the first ball went to long-on for two runs, the second ball was a dot ball, the third ball he hit to long-off and they scrambled another two runs, so the scores were tied with three balls to go and it's fair to say everyone was packing themselves, myself included," Frauenstein said.

"I just ran in and put it [the fourth delivery] on the stumps and he [Kitchen] missed it and Lance Shaw came in and I got him with a yorker next ball and our guys got a little more excited and we hatched up a couple of plans.

"It [the final ball] was a wide yorker and [Michael] Bates squeezed it straight to point, where Joe [Johann Myburgh] was fielding, and Joe whipped it into Bondy [Shane Bond] at the bowler's end and Bates was run out by a foot or so.

"I was in the middle of my follow-through and there was no pressure to get back to the stumps because we'd put Bondy right by the stumps at the bowler's end, so he only had a couple of metres to move. I'm not sure exactly whose plan that was, but it paid off beautifully.

"We were all ecstatic ... because we know how many runs an over you can go for if you don't quite get things right. Limiting them to four runs in the final over was pretty exciting."

Not to mention vital to Canterbury's hopes in this competition. The two points they earned for the tie means they sit in fourth place, ahead of tomorrow's clash with Wellington at QE II Park. And given how congested the points table is, they simply have to win to sneak themselves into the semis.

"There's a lively, buzzy nature within the team ..." Frauenstein said.

"That turnaround [from last week's eight-wicket loss to Central Districts] shows that the boys are very keen to do well."

Opening batsman Michael Papps' contribution was critical to achieving that on Saturday. He scored 122 as Canterbury posted 287 for seven to put some of the horrors of the 77 against CD behind them.

Northern Districts v CDNorthern Districts showed impeccable timing to win their national one-day cricket match against Central Districts in the last over at Whangarei on Saturday.

The home side passed Central's 240 with three balls and two wickets to spare at Cobham Oval, a result which confirms their presence in the semifinals with one round left.

Otago v WellingtonWellington's mediocre season continued with an eight-wicket loss to Otago in Wellington yesterday which saw them slump to the bottom of the one-day standings.

A dramatic tailorder collapse, in which Wellington's last five wickets fell in two overs for just three runs, saw the hosts dismissed for 169 with more than six overs to be bowled.

Otago knocked off the target with ease, cruising to 171 for two in 35.4 overs and snaring a bonus point which moves them past Wellington and into fifth on the table.

- with NZPA