Tuesday 27 November 2018

The Auckland Aces are confident they’re ready for the Wellington Firebirds when they host tomorrow’s Ford Trophy Elimination Final.

Despite Auckland finishing third, the match will be played at Eden Park Outer Oval because the Basin Reserve is unavailable.

Aces captain Craig Cachopa acknowledges that while it has been an unusual route to hosting tomorrow’s match, he’s not complaining.

“It’s a real bonus for us to be able to play the match at home,” he says.

“We won three out of four matches here, including when we hosted Wellington.”

Coach Mark O’Donnell believes the team’s experience with close finishes during the round-robin matches will stand them in good stead if it comes down to the wire against the Firebirds.

“There have been plenty of moments where we needed to keep a cool head, and the boys managed to do that.”

“Wellington have obviously been very good this season, but we won’t be rolling over.”

BLACKCAPS batsman Mark Chapman comes into the squad, giving the Aces batting options a very impressive look.

O’Donnell says that while Chapman’s return comes at a great time, the team won’t be relying on one player.

“Fortunately, we don’t just have to hope one particular guy fires,” he says.

“We know what Chappy and Colin [Munro] can do, but we’ve had great performances recently from Craig, from Ronnie Hira – from a number of the guys.”

O’Donnell isn’t fazed by the results of the last few days.

“It’s finals cricket now – while we’ll take lessons from the round-robin, the results and points aren’t what we’re looking at.”

“Doesn’t matter how we got here, if we get the win tomorrow, we make the grand final.”

The Auckland Aces play the Wellington Firebirds at Eden Park Outer Oval tomorrow (28 November) at 11:00am. Entry is a gold coin donation to Ronald McDonald House at the gate.

Auckland Aces squad to play Wellington:
Craig Cachopa (C)
Michael Barry
Graeme Beghin
Mark Chapman
Danru Ferns
Roneel Hira
Ben Horne (wk)
Ben Lister
Matt McEwan
Colin Munro
Robert O’Donnell
Sean Solia

ends

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