Cricket: Aggressive Parore innings seals win

By CHRIS RATTUE

Defiant New Zealand wicketkeeper Adam Parore hit back at claims his batting was in decline after helping steer Auckland to another Shell Cup cricket victory.

Auckland's mean-machine bowling was again outstanding in a six-wicket win over Wellington at the Basin Reserve.

Auckland's fifth win in six rounds kept them on top of the table, and they look to be battling Canterbury for top spot and an automatic place in the best-of-three final.

No side has scored more than 200 against the Auckland attack this season.

Wellington, who won the toss, were bowled out for 150, with Chris Drum, Richard Morgan, Kyle Mills and Brooke Walker finishing with remarkably similar figures.

Openers Blair Pocock and Aaron Barnes laid a 78-run foundation before Parore finished off the job following a mini-collapse.

Playing his first Shell Cup game of the season, Parore cracked 45 from 28 deliveries, including six fours and two sixes.

Parore failed to get into double figures in two tests and five one-day matches against the West Indies, and Sir Richard Hadlee was moved to suggest in his weekly column that Parore was under-achieving with the bat.

Parore managed just eight and five in the tests. He scored a total of 15 from three innings, with two not outs, and did not bat twice in the international one-dayers.

Parore said overwhelming the once-mighty West Indians meant his batting chances were extremely limited. That was a problem lower-order batsmen faced in dominant sides.

"I don't feel under pressure - it's hard to score runs when you can't get a bat," Parore said.

"The quantity of runs might have declined but I don't know about the quality.

"I've only really had three innings in the last six weeks, and only one innings in each test, which is unusual. I felt I hit the ball nice and fresh today."

Wellington were fresh from an unexpected win over Canterbury, but apart from opener Grant Donaldson - who struck a fine 80 from 125 balls - they batted poorly.

Wellington's batting is lacking in the one-day game and even the quirky Richard Petrie is more miss than hit these days, yesterday notching his fourth duck in six innings.

Donaldson, Wellington's only batting star in their first-round loss at Eden Park, played an array of fine strokes. But there was little method to some Wellington madness at the end. When Donaldson needed the strike, Carl Bulfin was dismissed while impersonating a woodchopper and Wellington failed to complete their overs.

Auckland have bowled first five times and limited Wellington to 111 and 150, Central to 123, Otago to 195 and Northern to 192. The only time they have been mastered was after the batting failed against Canterbury, and coach Tony Sail described his attack's performance as "unprecedented" in the Shell Cup.

Auckland are still two wins short of the minimum they believe is needed to assure them of top spot.