Cricket: Auckland lead chase for points

The weather has reduced the State Championship match between Auckland and Canterbury to an arm-wrestle for first innings points which Auckland appear to be winning.

With only today remaining, Auckland reached 184 for five wickets in reply to Canterbury's 248. Rob Nicol (24 not out) and Tama Canning (6 not out) will resume with the issue to be decided in the pre-lunch session.

Auckland's reply was constructed on a series of useful partnerships dominated by opener Richard Jones (55) and No 4 Lou Vincent (51). Both faced 65 balls, moved their personal scores along at a brisk rate and threatened to achieve a more permanent ascendancy over the Canterbury attack.

Young medium-paced bowler Richard Sherlock, in his Canterbury debut, prevented Vincent from advancing Auckland closer to their target when he got the ball to seam between the in-form Black Caps batsman's bat and pad with the total at 170. That ended a 65-run stand between Vincent and Nicol.

Sherlock had earlier been responsible for making Tim McIntosh's return to his former adopted province less than memorable by having him caught behind.

After the initial new-ball burst, there was a logical pattern of Nixon McLean, Hamish Bennett and Sherlock bowling with the brisk north-easterly wind at their backs, and medium-pacers Nathan Astle, Craig McMillan, and Chris Harris soldiering into it.

Astle was miserly in his concession of runs and struck twice by bowling Jones and getting Matt Horne leg before wicket.

McLean chimed in with a similar dismissal of Scott Styris.

It took half-centuries by middle-order men Chris Harris and Paul Wiseman to rescue a sagging Canterbury innings after overnight batsmen McMillan and Gary Stead quickly fell to a rampant Kerry Walmsley relishing the overcast conditions favourable to Auckland's seam bowlers.

At 99 for five Canterbury were in considerable trouble. But Harris and Brendon McCullum decided on attack as the most appropriate means of defence. Together they added 38 runs in only 24 minutes - punctuated by four McCullum boundaries and a big Harris six over mid-wicket - before McCullum became Walmsley's fourth of five victims.

CD v ND

Central Districts, rocked by a record sixth-wicket partnership from Northern Districts on Tuesday, did some pounding at the crease themselves yesterday to come within 23 runs of taking the first innings points at McLean Park, Napier.

Central's middle order showed some solid batting in challenging Northern's 450 scored on Tuesday but conceded first innings points when they finished with 428.

Though Central captain Jamie How added just seven runs to the total, his 86, with the help of Michael Mason's unbeaten 64, Ewen Thompson's 62, Ross Taylor's 60 and 46 from Jarrod Englefield helped them seriously challenge Northern's big total - set around the New Zealand first-class record of 322 for the sixth wicket by Mark Orchard (175) and Joseph Yovich (144).

Englefield, 13 overnight, was joined by Ross Taylor and the pair shared a partnership of 50 runs before Englefield was caught by Yovich off a Bruce Martin delivery.

Taylor fell for 46 runs but 26 from Bevan Griggs and the rest of the middle order, including 33 from Brendon Diamanti, consolidated Central's chase.

Bruce Martin snapped up three wickets from 48 overs while Graeme Aldrich, Yovich and Orchard picked up two wickets apiece.

Otago v Wellington

Otago will need the weather to come to the rescue if they are to avoid outright defeat against Wellington at the University Oval today.

Following on 219 runs behind after their first-innings collapse, Otago scrambled through to 363 runs in their second innings, establishing a lead of 144 runs.

Wellington had eroded 47 of those runs by stumps and, with 10 second innings wickets still in hand, are well placed to grab the eight competition points for outright victory.

Otago captain Gareth Hopkins, however, was in no mood to concede defeat.

"I think our batting performance set us up a chance," Hopkins said.

He was proud his side had fought back after capitulating to be 73 all out in their first innings.

- NZPA