Grobbelaar, Nicol give Auckland win

Auckland moved into third position on the points table with a five-wicket win over Canterbury in Christchurch. Donovan Grobbelaar's four wickets restricted Canterbury to 118 after they chose to bat. Auckland lost wickets regularly in the chase but captain Rob Nicol steered them with an unbeaten 52 and Brad Cachopa hit fours off the two balls he faced to haul his side home with two deliveries remaining.

Ronnie Hira made 53 off 39 for Canterbury at the top of the order but the next highest contribution was Aiden Blizzard's 17. The rest managed single-digit scores. Grobbelaar had career-best figures of 3.1-0-10-4 while Tarun Nethula picked up two wickets.

Hamish Bennett struck in successive overs at the start of the chase but Nicol kept the innings moving with his 52 off 54. Grobbelaar hit a six towards the finish before Cachopa's blows sealed it for Auckland.