Cricket: Stumped - by the weather

Auckland's performance was so poor yesterday that their most loyal fans could not watch - not that they had a choice.

Several fans, some Sky TV crew and even the scorer were left stranded after strong winds forced one plane to turn back to Auckland and another to be diverted to Wanganui.

That left no time to make a dash up State Highway 3 to see the Aces fall to Central Districts, for the first time this season, by a whopping 78 runs.

Megan Clark and her partner Andrew made a last-minute decision to fly to New Plymouth for the final, but instead were left with a Sunday afternoon drive through the South Taranaki countryside when their plane landed at Wanganui instead.

"It's disappointing, but what can you do," she said.

In the commentary booth, Mark Richardson and Craig McMillan put in a long shift as a barebones Sky crew put out the broadcast.