Cricket: Petrie destroys Auks on own

WELLINGTON - Without Richard Petrie, Wellington's one-day cricket match at the Basin Reserve yesterday threatened to become a cakewalk for Auckland.

But Wellington ended up winning by nine runs - almost entirely because of Petrie's innings of 71 from 67 balls.

Batting first, Wellington were 112 for six in the 34th over, and the match look destined to finish tamely.

But then Petrie took charge, with strong support from Mark Jefferson, who hit an unbeaten 48 from 41 balls.

In 64 minutes they added 104 for the seventh wicket, and Wellington's final tally of 231 for seven was almost beyond belief.

It looked even more impressive when Auckland's top-order batsmen also failed, and they slid to 127 for seven in the 36th over.

Lefthander Craig Pryor, who has yet to establish himself in the Auckland side, scored 76 off 91 balls, and with Jason Mills (40 not out) and Mark Haslam (25) came within a few runs of stealing victory.

Petrie said the game was an unusual one, and his attitude when batting was not to give up, even when the Auckland bowlers were dominating.

"We just had to keep gritting away, and hope something would happen," Petrie said.

"It doesn't always. We talked about partnerships, and it was good that Mark and I were able to get going.

"We needed some big overs toward the end and the quicker bowlers were easier to hit."

Wellington plundered 74 from the last six overs, including 22 from Pryor's only over of the innings, the 47th.

Their scoring rate was in stark contrast to the earlier batsmen. Wells took 86 balls to score 32 before he was run out, and on debut Grant Donaldson was run out for a duck when sent back by Petrie without facing a ball. - NZPA