KEY POINTS:
Peter Fulton and Chris Harris kept their heads on a day when 13 wickets fell to keep Canterbury in command halfway through their four-day game against Auckland at Eden Park yesterday.
When bad light ended play at 5.20pm Canterbury were 69 for three in their second innings with Fulton on 34 and Harris on 12. Canterbury will resume today with a lead of 140 runs and seven wickets in hand.
The experienced pair came together with Canterbury reeling at 29 for three as the Auckland bowlers tried to negate Canterbury's 71-run first-innings lead. The openers were dismissed with the score on 10 and Craig McMillan followed soon after to a marginal leg-before decision.
But despite some vociferous appeals, Fulton and Harris held firm against Tama Canning and Andre Adams.
Auckland had struggled to gain momentum in their innings of 180 against a Canterbury attack that was persistent if rarely hostile.
On a gloomy morning with a cold wind whipping across the ground, openers Tim McIntosh and Richard Jones put on 27 runs before McIntosh was caught at the wicket for 14, giving Sunnie Chan his first wicket at this level.
But Auckland's innings didn't start to fall apart until Chris Small was introduced to the attack. He is a more than useful rugby player and bowls with a muscular delivery from a short run.
He tempted Jones into chasing a wide ball for an edge to slip for 27, had Martin Guptill caught at cover for six and trapped Rob Nicol in front for four. With Lou Vincent out cheaply after edging a short ball from Brandon Hiini on to his stumps, Auckland were struggling at 59 for five.
By lunch that had become 84 for six, with Canning giving wicketkeeper Kruger van Wyk his second victim off Leighton Burtt.
Before Auckland limped to their 100 off 227 balls, Paul Hitchcock had also fallen to the van Wyk-Hiini combination.
Not for the first time at the Eden Park outer oval, Auckland's lower order restored some respectability.
The aggressive Adams showed commendable restraint to score 28 before holing out to mid-on to give Small his fourth wicket.
And there were useful contributions from Reece Young (26), Tim Lythe (18) and Colin Munro (20 in his first first-class knock).
The wicket offered some encouragement to the bowlers all day, but several of the batsmen made their task too easy.
* Northern Districts face an uphill battle for any points in their match against Wellington at Seddon Park, Hamilton.
At the close of a weather-affected second day, Northern were 83 for the loss of five wickets in their first innings in reply to Wellington's 524 for eight declared.
While Wellington's batsmen prospered, Northern's struggled.
Northern must wish Wellington bowler Iain O'Brien had not been released from the Black Caps squad playing Sri Lanka in the first test in Christchurch, for the pace man ruined their innings.
O'Brien took four for 21 off just 10 overs that included four maidens. He took the wicket of opener BJ Watling (14), then knocked over the middle order of Hamish Marshall (4), James Marshall (4) and Daniel Flynn (9).
Alan Evans, the other opener, was run out for 43.
When rain stopped play at 5pm after a halt because of bad light, Joseph Yovich was three not out and Mark Orchard 1 not out.
* Solid batting, including a century by Shaun Haig, assured Otago of first innings points against Central Districts in Napier.
They were humming nicely when rain forced early stumps, with the score on 448 for six in reply to Central's first innings of 394.
Gareth Hopkins was on 43 and Nathan McCullum 1.
Haig, who was on 42 overnight, kicked on for 111 off just 126 balls and included 14 boundaries and a six.
- additional reporting NZPA
