"I can't complain. It's been a good day today, and more importantly it's Auckland's first win in a while so it was nice to get that for the boys," he said tonight.
Earlier recalled test opener Peter Fulton struck 74 and former international Rob Nicol 68 for Canterbury at the redeveloped Hagley Oval.
Left armer Michael Bates took four for 45 to go with three catches, while ODI seamer Kyle Mills and young Matt Quinn shared five wickets.
Otago made their second highest 50-over total, 349 for seven on the Basin Reserve. Aaron Redmond carried on his Plunket Shield-plundering form with 114 off just 84 balls.
However, another senior citizen of the opening batsmen's union, Michael Papps, topped Redmond with an unbeaten 162 off 138 balls - his 10th ton in this form - to steer Wellington to a memorable six-wicket win.
Wellington's 352 for four is the province's highest one-day total, while the 273-run second wicket stand between Papps and Stephen Murdoch (136 off 123 balls) is a record for any wicket in New Zealand 50-over history, eclipsing Stephen Fleming and Roger Twose's unbroken 244 in the 2000-01 season.
Michael Mason's heroics in his final game for Central Districts last season were a distant memory as the defending trophy champions were soundly beaten by Northern Districts in Nelson.
ND's 322 for seven was well beyond the hosts, who didn't recover from 32 for four and were dismissed for 238. Test bowler Trent Boult' best limited-overs figures, four for 38 followed James Marshall and Daryl Mitchell, with 93 and 95 respectively, putting on a fourth wicket record 155.
In Thursday's second round games, ND host Auckland in Hamilton, Wellington play CD in the capital and Canterbury face Otago in Christchurch.
Ford Trophy
Central Stags v Northern Knights
(Saxton Oval, Nelson)
Northern
A Devcich c C van Wyk b D Bracewell 21
D Flynn lbw b T Nethula 25
K Williamson c A Mathieson b T Nethula 26
D Mitchell c & b K Noema-Barnett 95
J Marshall c L Taylor b A Milne 93
T Southee c L Taylor b A Milne 23
B Wilson not out 29
J Boult c L Taylor b A Milne 0
C Fletcher not out 1
Extras (lb 2, wd 7, nb 0) 9
Total (for 7 wickets, 50.0 overs) 322
Fall: 1-40, 2-58, 3-95, 4-250, 5-285, 6-299, 7-304
Bowling: DAJ Bracewell 10-0-45-1, AF Milne 9-1-64-3, TS Nethula 10-0-66-2 (1w, AW Mathieson 9-0-58-0 (1w, K Noema-Barnett 10-0-72-1 (1w, JA Raval 2-0-15-0
Central
J Raval c A Devcich b T Southee 3
J How lbw b T Boult 1
M Sinclair b T Boult 0
L Taylor c A Devcich b G Aldridge 75
W Young c C Fletcher b T Boult 3
K Noema-Barnett c T Southee b A Devcich 16
C van Wyk lbw b T Boult 51
D Bracewell c D Flynn b J Boult 30
T Nethula c C Fletcher b K Williamson 16
A Milne lbw b J Boult 15
A Mathieson not out 0
Extras (lb 6, wd 21, nb 1) 28
Total (for 10 wickets, 38.3 overs) 238
Fall: 1-5, 2-5, 3-14, 4-32, 5-61, 6-131, 7-185, 8-209, 9-232, 10-238
Bowling: TA Boult 7.3-0-38-4 (6w, TG Southee 7-0-29-1 (2w, GW Aldridge 5-0-28-1 (1w, AP Devcich 6-0-59-1 (4w, 1nb), JJ Boult 9-0-46-2 (2w, KS Williamson 4-0-32-1 (1w
Canterbury Wizards v Auckland Aces
(Hagley Oval, Christchurch)
Canterbury
B Cachopa c M Bates b M Quinn 28
G Worker c G Hopkins b M Bates 13
R Nicol c G Hopkins b K Mills 68
P Fulton c Craig Cachopa b M Bates 74
S Stewart c G Hopkins b M Quinn 5
A Ellis c T McIntosh b M Bates 49
T Astle c M Bates b K Mills 7
R Hira c M Bates b K Mills 6
L van Beek c T McIntosh b M Bates 0
R McCone not out 0
Extras (b 1, lb 7, wd 11, nb 0) 19
Total (for 9 wickets, 50.0 overs) 269
Fall: 1-40, 2-62, 3-180, 4-190, 5-206, 6-220, 7-248, 8-269, 9-269
Bowling: KD Mills 10-1-54-3 (1w, MD Bates 10-1-45-4 (1w, D Grobbelaar 6-0-31-0 (2w, MR Quinn 10-0-59-2 (1w, C de Grandhomme 4-0-21-0 (2w, C Munro 6-0-22-0, BP Martin 4-0-29-0
Auckland
A Kitchen c B Cachopa b M McEwan 24
T McIntosh hit wicket b T Astle 72
G Hopkins c T Astle b A Ellis 7
Craig Cachopa c R Nicol b L van Beek 121
C Munro c B Cachopa b L van Beek 2
C de Grandhomme not out 34
D Grobbelaar not out 1
Extras (lb 4, wd 4, nb 1) 9
Total (for 5 wickets, 48.0 overs) 270
Fall: 1-41, 2-57, 3-170, 4-177, 5-268
Bowling: RJ McCone 8-0-46-0, MB McEwan 10-0-55-1 (1w, 1nb), AM Ellis 10-0-41-1, LV van Beek 8-0-52-2, RJ Nicol 6-0-30-0 (2w, RM Hira 4-0-24-0 (1w, TD Astle 2-0-18-1
Wellington Firebirds v Otago Volts
(Basin Reserve, Wellington)
Otago
S Wells c S Murdoch b M Tugaga 36
A Redmond c G Elliott b L Woodcock 114
D Broom c T Blundell b S Kuggeleijn 22
D de Boorder b M Houghton 77
N McCullum b L Woodcock 5
M Bracewell c H Boam b G Elliott 31
I Butler b J Franklin 5
IA Robertson not out 14
N Beard not out 15
Extras (b 1, lb 9, wd 18, nb 2) 30
Total (for 7 wickets, 50.0 overs) 349
Fall: 1-70, 2-146, 3-217, 4-229, 5-311, 6-315, 7-319
Bowling: SC Kuggeleijn 7-0-65-1 (3w, 2nb), MJ Tugaga 6-0-36-1 (1w, JEC Franklin 10-0-64-1 (2w, MV Houghton 10-0-71-1 (2w, GD Elliott 7-0-53-1 (5w, LJ Woodcock 10-0-50-2
Wellington
J Ryder b J Duffy 4
M Papps not out 162
S Murdoch c M Bracewell b J Duffy 136
G Elliott c S Wells b I Butler 3
J Franklin c sub (S Blakley) b J Duffy 21
H Boam not out 3
Extras (lb 7, wd 16, nb 0) 23
Total (for 4 wickets, 48.4 overs) 352
Fall: 1-6, 2-279, 3-290, 4-337
Bowling: JM McMillan 9.4-0-66-0 (2w, JA Duffy 9-1-63-3 (7w, IG Butler 8-0-66-1 (1w, NL McCullum 10-0-55-0, NB Beard 9-0-60-0 (2w, SR Wells 3-0-35-0
