KEY POINTS:
The weather favoured Otago, who surged to the top of the State Shield one-day cricket standings courtesy of a 61-run defeat of Northern Districts in Dunedin yesterday.
Rain washed out the two other matches - Auckland against Wellington at Eden Park's Outer Oval and Central against Canterbury in New Plymouth - so Otago's bonus-point success at University Oval saw them take the competition lead after six of 10 rounds.
Auckland, in second place with 17 points, and Wellington a point behind, will be rueing the bad weather in the North Island which affected their matches.
Otago's victory was set up by a century to New Zealand test opener Craig Cumming but the killer blows were landed by pace bowler Mathew Harvie, who knocked over the visitors' top order to snare career-best figures of five for 40.
Northern were never in the hunt for Otago's 279 for eight when they were reduced to 75 for five.
Allrounders Mark Orchard (44) and Joseph Yovich (50) took the chance to improve their averages before Northern were dismissed for 218 in the final over. It wasn't quite enough to deny Otago the bonus point they needed to take the competition's outright lead.
Captain Cumming notched just his second domestic one-day hundred, run out for 112 off 129 balls with five overs remaining.
Nathan McCullum smashed 45 off 24 balls at the death in the other notable contribution, pushing the target into the realm of very challenging.
It became near impossible when Harvie and Southlander Nic Turner (three for 32) tore through Northern's specialist batsmen.
Yovich was his team's best with both bat and ball, taking three for 43 from 10 overs.
- NZPA
