Cricket: Parlane fights hard as Canterbury keep it tight

A delayed start, early finish and slow scoring marked the opening day of Northern Districts' Plunket Shield match against Canterbury in Hamilton yesterday.

The hosts went to stumps on day one of the four-day fixture at Seddon Park on 128-4 after only 60 overs were possible.

Canterbury's bowlers struggled early on but still managed to clamp the scoring rate, as Northern Districts made hard work of their search for runs when play finally began just after 2pm.

The only batsman to make an impression was opener Michael Parlane, who held things together with a composed 65.

He hit 12 fours while his partners came and went, before he became one of seamer Brandon Hiini's three victims when an edge behind was accepted by wicketkeeper Kruger van Wyk.

James Marshall and Peter McGlashan held the Canterbury bowlers at bay after Parlane's dismissal and will both resume today on 17.

Hiini was the pick of the bowlers, taking three for 28.

LUKE WOODCOCK got Wellington out of a tight corner in their Plunket Shield match against Canterbury yesterday.

Woodcock scored a career-best 139 not out in Wellington's first innings of 265-8 on the first day of the four-day match at the Basin Reserve.

Without him, Wellington would have faced a potentially humiliating outcome after their top order was ripped apart by former international seamer Michael Mason.

He charged in to reduce Wellington to 5-3 as Matthew Bell, Josh Brodie and Neal Parlane all came and went before Woodcock started the salvage operation.

It was 50-4 when Ewen Thompson removed Cameron Merchant for 15, but Woodcock found support from newcomer Stewart Rhodes, coming off a century on debut against Otago.

Rhodes helped Woodcock put on 109 for the fifth wicket before departing for 53, then watched from a distance as Woodcock batted intelligently with the lower order to progress to his fourth first-class century.

He also found assistance from Illi Tugaga, who scored 21 not out, as the pair put on an unbroken stand of 50 for the ninth wicket.

The 27-year-old Woodcock will resume tomorrow morning having already been at the crease for 365 minutes, during which time he faced 265 balls, with 17 fours to his name.

After his early successes, Mason ended the day with figures of three for 36 off 18 overs.

- NZPA