Cricket: Wellington revival may have come too late

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Wellington coach Vaughn Johnson believes his team have "come right with a vengeance," but it may be too late to secure them a place in the Shell Cup one-day cricket playoffs.

Wellington won their second consecutive match when outplaying Central Districts by seven wickets at the Basin Reserve yesterday, and join Northern Districts in equal third place with one preliminary round remaining.

Those two teams are fighting over the remaining playoff position, with Cup holders Canterbury and Auckland guaranteed to occupy two of the top places.

Wellington have to beat Otago tomorrow, and hope their net run rate is better than Northern Districts' in the event of the teams being tied on points.

Northern meet Central in Palmerston North knowing they start with a superior run rate to Wellington's.

Wellington yesterday dismissed Central for 114 in 34.5 overs and, propelled by an innings of 53 from 36 balls from captain Chris Nevin, flew to their target for the loss of three wickets in just 19.1 overs.

"At last we're becoming a bit more consistent, and the effort today was a professional one," Johnson said. "All our bowlers did well, we fielded well apart from a couple of early dropped catches, and we batted with lots of confidence.

"But we've made it hard on ourselves by not picking up wins earlier against Central and Otago. We've not played to our full potential in three Cup games, and that has found us out."

Richard Petrie's medium-pace bowling yesterday was impressive in tandem with the bustling Paul Hitchcock.

Petrie took four for 26 after bowling Central captain Craig Spearman and Mark Douglas, then removing Glen Sulzberger and Peter McGlashan with successive balls in the 19th over.

Hitchcock, in his first full Cup season, has been a huge success with 22 wickets, equal-highest with Aucklander Andre Adams. He captured three for 30 from 10 overs as he deceived the Central batsmen with his pace and ability to make the ball skid.

Nevin's value to Wellington after a groin injury was emphasised with his three catches behind the stumps, and his clean hitting ensured Central were unable to put any pressure on the Wellington batsmen.

The loss ended Central's slim hopes of being in the playoffs.

Coach Dipak Patel said his players had not done well enough, and it was time for them to look toward defending the Shell Trophy, which starts on February 12.

- NZPA