Cricket: Kelly's knock central to win

WELLINGTON - The crowd paid to watch test double centurion Mathew Sinclair but it was the blazing bat of his Central Districts' team-mate David Kelly that probably buried Wellington's Shell Cup cricket hopes at the Waikanae Domain yesterday.

Kelly plundered Wellington's wayward bowling to score his maiden cup century and set Central up for their first win of the competition by 66 runs.

It left Vaughn Johnson's Firebirds needing to win at least four of their remaining six games to have any chance of making the top three playoffs.

Wellington's next assignment is at the Basin Reserve on January 14, when cup holders Canterbury will have their international players back.

New Zealand's second test hero against the West Indies, Sinclair scored 27 off 42 balls in an opening partnership of 76 with Kelly. But it was Kelly's innings of 140 off just 144 balls that made the difference.

The New Zealand Academy right-hander played his shots from the outset and was savage through the offside where many of his 18 boundaries came.

Wellington were guilty of bowling two sides of the wicket and an inconsistent length, and Kelly took full toll, his century coming up in the 37th over off only 112 balls.

His partnerships of 63 with Mark Douglas and 85 with Glen Sulzberger for the fourth and fifth wickets saw Central through to 258 for seven in their 50 overs.

Former test opener Matthew Bell rode his luck to crack five boundaries in a confidence-boosting innings of 40 in Wellington's run chase. It came after Bell, again filling in for injured captain Chris Nevin, had snaffled four catches behind the stumps.

It was the only innings of significance for Wellington and when Central spinner Campbell Furlong bowled Bell and allrounder Richard Petrie with consecutive balls in the 24th over and seamer Andrew Penn removed Grant Donaldson and Jason Wells in the 27th over, the Firebirds were goners.

Kelly's man-of-the-match knock was even more remarkable as he and his Central team-mates hadn't arrived in Waikanae until after 3am yesterday because of the postponement on Monday and then abandonment of their third round match against Canterbury in Nelson.

- NZPA