More inclement weather in New Plymouth caused an early abandonment to the Ford Trophy's 1v2 preliminary final but there were to be no complaints from Central Districts.
They have advanced to the final next Sunday by virtue of the washout in which Auckland made 230 batting first and CD were 16-0 when the rain swept across Pukekura Park.
While CD has a week off, Auckland are back in action on Wednesday when they host Otago, who defended 172 by knocking a severely-weakened Canterbury line-up for 160.
In the match between the top two qualifiers, CD would feel they were a good chance of chasing down the total in any case on an ever-improving pitch and with short boundaries to aid them as well.
They won the toss and inserted Auckland on a damp wicket which yielded precious few runs early on as CD's bowlers hit an immaculate line.
Auckland's opening stand of 17 took 8.2 overs to compile and further losses at 26, 54 and 71 left them well behind the eight-ball.
Standing amongst the early damage was Brad Cachopa, although his scoring was hardly the cause of concern for CD. He made 36 off 100 balls, unable to break the shackles until he was the fifth batsman dismissed at 109.
Enter Colin de Grandhomme. The newly-selected New Zealand Twenty20 player found the short boundaries and a drying pitch to his liking as he added 92 with Colin Munro, his Howick Pakuranga team-mate.
De Grandhomme was at his brutal best, slapping 66 off 35 balls including seven sixes and three fours. His 50 came off only 27 balls, while Munro's was more circumspect off 51 balls but was no less vital.
Auckland had a great chance to push for a score near 300 until losing their last five wickets for 29.
Left-arm Marty Kain did the damage, taking 4-46 while Michael Mason, Bevan Small and Kieran Noema-Barnett grabbed two each.
Munro was the last batsman dismissed for a fine 64 off 60 balls.
Jamie How and Dean Robinson were both seven not out when the rain came in and they were happy to remain in the changing rooms and wait for the rain to provide them a free passage into the final.
At Dunedin's University Oval, Otago might have felt they were short with a sub-par total batting first but had up-and-coming all-rounder Jimmy Neesham to thank for the 12-run triumph.
Sam Wells top-scored with 41 while Craig Cumming (25) and Neesham (21) were others to pass 20.
Matt Henry, a relatively experienced campaign compared to his fellow bowlers in only his eighth limited-overs match, took 3-46. Ed Nuttall, an 18-year-old left-arm seamer on debut, took 2-25 and Logan van Beek, in his seventh match, had 2-40.
At 93-1, and 130-3, Canterbury looked to be cruising and setting up a showdown with Auckland to keep their campaign alive.
But they hit the skids from there, destroyed in the most part by a brilliant 10-over burst by Neesham.
Neesham removed top scorer Peter Fulton (53), Henry Nicholls (15), Todd Astle (0) and Henry (0) while also running out van Beek for good measure.
He'll be reacquainted with his former Auckland team-mates on Wednesday who will be back in the familiar surroundings of Colin Maiden Park and keen to work towards defending their 50-over crown.