By GRAHAM REDDAWAY
Canterbury face an uphill task to reach 374 to beat Auckland on the final day of their Shell Trophy cricket match at Eden Park today.
The visitors start the day needing 316 with just seven wickets in hand.
After rain forced the loss of the opening day, both sides have played the match positively.
Auckland established a handy first-innings lead of 224, but Auckland skipper Dion Nash declined to force the follow-on, preferring to offer a reasonable chase for Canterbury.
Auckland's 361-4 before declaring featured a magnificent 167 by left-handed opener Tim McIntosh and an unbeaten fifth-wicket partnership of 99 between Nash and Kyle Mills.
Mills, left 54 not out, needed just three more runs to end the season with an average of 100. But he took his chance in Auckland's second innings of 149-6 declared to score 9 not out, moving his average to 101 - the first non-international player to achieve the feat in a New Zealand season.
Canterbury's first innings 137 was undone by Auckland's attacking accuracy. Tama Canning with 4-36 and Chris Drum, 3-27, were well supported in the field, but only Canterbury skipper Gary Stead and wicket-keeper Gareth Hopkins looked likely to stick around for long.
Canterbury started the fourth-innings chase badly by losing Robbie Frew with the score at 10.
Then Brooke Walker struck, trapping Marcel McKenzie with a top spinner for a duck and dismissing Stead first ball with another spinner.
Jarrod Englefield and Peter Fulton had added 21 for the fourth wicket when play ended.
Otago have been left a stiff challenge to win their Shell Trophy cricket match against Central Districts in Alexandra.
Led by century-maker Glen Sulzberger, CD declared their second innings at 392 for six to set Otago a winning target 436 off 112 overs.
Otago were 25 for one - test-opener Matt Horne - at stumps.
CD piled on the agony for Otago yesterday and, when they declared, their six most recent innings had produced 2169 runs for 37 wickets at an average of 58.62.
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