Aces come up trumps, T&T sent packing

Veteran all-rounder Azhar Mahmood grabbed five wickets and struck a half-century as Aukland Aces thrashed Hampshire by 8 wickets to qualify for the main draw of the Champions League Twenty20. Mahmood made inroads into the Hampshire top-order as Auckland bundled out the English county team for a modest 121 in 20 overs. Mahmood then smashed an unbeaten 31-ball-55 to steer his side to a comfortable win with 33 balls to spare. The Pakistan discard hit five sixes and four boundaries during his innings.

Auckland has thus become the first team to qualify for the main tournament, starting Saturday. The New Zealand T20 champions have won both their qualifying matches, having beaten Sialkot Stallions on Tuesday.

Brief scores: Hampshire 121 for eight (M Carberry 65, S Ervine 16, A Mahmood 5/24) v Auckland 123/2 in 14.3 overs (A Mahmood 55*, M Guptill 38, S Afridi 1/23)

Ballance act

Yorkshire rode on Gary Ballance and Adil Rashid's batting heroics to qualify for the main draw with a comfortable six-wicket win over Trinidad and Tobago. Chasing Trinidad's 148 for nine, Ballance (64 off 37) and Rashid (33 off 27) lifted Yorkshire from a difficult position with an unbeaten 103-run stand in the fifth wicket partnership. Trinidad have crashed out of the event after just one outing.

Brief scores: T&T 148/9 (D Ramdin 59, DM Bravo 45, Sidebottom 3/13) vs Yorkshire 154/4 in 18.5 ov (GS Ballance 64*, A Rashid 33, S Badree 1/22)

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