Auckland increased their lead at the top of the Plunket Shield standings after completing a three-wicket victory over Northern Districts yesterday.
Brad Cachopa (27no) and Michael Bates (11no) were the eventual heroes at Mt Maunganui, holding their nerve on the third afternoon to survive a pitch that saw ball completely dominate bat.
After 23 wickets fell on the first day, rain at Bay Oval restricted play to just 28.4 overs on Saturday, leaving Northern Districts to resume on 147-7 yesterday morning. The home side added 59 runs to their overall lead to set Auckland a challenging target of 233, before a half century from opener Rob Nicol (59) ensured the chase began well.
Further fifties from Colin de Grandhomme (55) and Colin Munro (50) put the visitors in charge, but regular wickets left Auckland needing some lower-order resistance. And, after Donovan Grobbelaar and Tarun Nethula both fell for ducks, that resistance was eventually provided by Cachopa and Bates to help Auckland collect their second win from two matches in the new season.
Elsewhere, an inspired effort from Canterbury's bowlers left the defending champions firmly in control at the halfway point of their clash with Otago. After the visitors resumed on 5-0 at Hagley Oval, the Canterbury quicks ripped through their opponents' order, dismissing Otago for 91 in just 36.3 overs. The home side's batsmen then backed up the efforts of the bowlers, racking up a total of 272-2 to take a lead of 474 into the third day, with captain Peter Fulton (97no) on the verge of his 18th first-class century.
