KEY POINTS:
Captain Richard Jones led from the front with 79 as Auckland beat Wellington by three wickets with just over three overs to spare in a State Shield 50-over game at Eden Park yesterday.
Canterbury's loss to Otago means Auckland's win, their third in a row, lifts them off
the bottom of the table.
The strip on the outer oval seemed more Gaza than batting as a rock-breaker 15m from the boundary shattered the eardrums and sent clouds of dust over the playing area.
But it was a hardly a minefield for batsmen and Wellington's total of 241 for nine after they had been put into bat never looked quite enough.
Martin Guptill, back in action quickly from international duty in Napier, fell for 19 after an opening partnership of 47 with Tim McIntosh. McIntosh made 45 with eight fours and Auckland were well ahead of the run-rate required.
Jones never seemed in any trouble and received timely support from Reece Young (32) and Rob Nicol (31) before falling to a catch at deep mid-off with only 20 required. His 79 off 97 balls included six fours and a six.
Best of the Wellington bowlers was Luke Woodcock, whose 10 overs of left-arm spin earned three for 36.
Wellington's innings was a stop-go affair centred on a composed 80 from James Franklin, playing as a batsman because of an injured leg. He certainly gave the injury a workout as he had six fours and no fewer than 45 singles in his knock.
There was a flurry at the start from Essex professional Graham Napier, whose style is Kingsland or the bush, but his prolific opening partner Matthew Bell struggled for his 23 and it needed brisk contributions from Harry Boam and Woodcock to build a defendable total.
Auckland's Daryl Tuffey ended with three for 32 and off-spinner Nicol, back in the side for the first time, took two for 35 from his 10 overs.
OTAGO v CANTERBURY
Otago broke the State Shield mould as captain Craig Cumming led them to a 125-run thrashing of Canterbury in Dunedin. In 20 completed games this summer, this was just the third won by the team batting first.
Cumming's third domestic one-day hundred helped make it a thumping bonus-point victory as Otago raced to 288 for seven at University oval.
The response from Canterbury was a limp 163 in 39.5 overs, which sees them drop to last while the defending champion southerners are now firmly in third place with three rounds left.
Cumming struck 16 fours in his 130-ball knock.
Nathan McCullum blasted a career-high 71 off 55 balls while Ian Butler (32no) and Dimitri Mascarenhas (28) were also potent.
It was an excellent recovery from Otago after openers Brendon McCullum and Shaun Haig both departed for one, bowled by former international pace man Shane Bond.
Bond finished with three for 52.
ND v CD
In Michael Parlane's 16-year domestic cricket career, he won't have experienced many days as satisfying as yesterday's six-wicket defeat of Central Districts.
His commanding and unbeaten 111 handed Northern an easy win with more than eight overs to spare in Whangarei, leapfrogging Central at the top of the standings with three rounds to play.
In the process, the 36-year-old moved past Canterbury's Chris Harris to be the highest run-scorer in the New Zealand domestic one-day game.
Parlane has now compiled 3843 one-day runs for Northern and Wellington, passing veteran Harris' 3784 when he reached 53 yesterday.
The 112-ball knock, featuring just eight fours, was compiled with a minimum of fuss and made a mockery of Central's troubles in being dismissed for 235 in 49.2 overs.
Parlane shared a 117-run third-wicket stand with captain James Marshall, who struck an aggressive 64.
CD's in-form opener Peter Ingram was in the runs again, scoring a rapid 46 while wicketkeeper Beven Griggs reached a patient 44 and Brendon Diamanti 56 but nobody else passed 20.
- additional reporting NZPA