Super Smash stunner: Aces have crazy win over Volts

THE Auckland Aces have recovered from one of the craziest battling collapses you will see to record a remarkable Super Smash victory over the Otago Volts at Eden Park Outer Oval yesterday.

After the out-of-contention visitors had slumped to 130 all out, the home side then crumbled to an absolute mess of 13-5, and 26-6, before somehow triumphing by one wicket, with two balls to spare, in yet another thrilling finish in this competition.

Sean Solia was the hero for the hosts, the left-handed No 7 finishing with an unbeaten 67 off 54 balls (four fours, three sixes) as he manfully dragged his side out of the mire.

The 29-year-old hit the ball clean to stage a remarkable fightback with Will Somerville (25 off 27), the pair putting on 77 in 10 overs to put Auckland back in the unthinkable – a winning position.

The turning point was the 13th over, where Solia took 19 off Michael Rippon’s final set, including a six over long-on, which also got the Aces past the record lowest T20 score in New Zealand of 72.

Needing 29 off the last four overs, it was Auckland’s to lose.

Anaru Kitchen, who had bowled an amazing three-wicket maiden earlier, struck on return, sneaking one under a swiping Somerville, as the left-arm spinner claimed a career-best 4-11 off four.

Lockie Ferguson hit Jacob Duffy for two sixes in four balls, before falling lbw to a slower last ball of the over. That left 11 needed off two overs, and the inexperienced Jake Gibson and Angus McKenzie left to bowl, and while Adi Ashok flicked a yorker through mid-wicket for four, he skied a catch in the last over, leaving the Aces nine down, needing three off four balls.

Solia showed faith in Ben

Lister by taking a single, rewarded when McKenzie’s fourth ball was pulled by the No 11 to the boundary for the sensational comeback victory.

The win puts the Aces into fourth place, level with the thirdplaced Wellington Firebirds on 16 points, as they chase a top-three finals berth.

There had been no signs of the carnage to come after George Worker took Duffy for back-toback boundaries in the opening over of the chase. But second ball of the next, when Kitchen had Worker holing out at long-on, the action was only just beginning.

After almost having Mark Chapman lbw first up, Kitchen slid his next ball on to rattle his poles, then Graeme Beghin was

gone for a golden duck, and Kitchen had a stunning 3-0 in five balls. Captain Robbie O’Donnell

cut the hat-trick ball for four, but the damage was nowhere near done there.

First ball of the next over,

Duffy had Glenn Phillips chopping on for a golden, and two deliveries later had Ben Horne trapped in front and it was a five wickets in nine balls for the visitors. It got worse when Rippon produced a ripper in his first over to go through the defences of O’Donnell and take off-stump, to leave the Aces absolutely reeling.

Earlier, the Volts got off to a

great start through experienced openers Hamish Rutherford and Neil Broom, who put on 58 inside the powerplay.

But when each holed out in successive overs, the innings took a real nose-dive, as spinners Somerville (2-18 off 4) and Ashok (2-17 off 4) took hold, the pair bowling 20 dot balls between them.

The Volts went 35 balls without a boundary, and just kept losing wickets throughout, and in the end couldn’t even see out their 20 overs, dismissed in 18.4.