Cricket: Guptill warms up for Aussie tests in style

Martin Guptill during the Plunket Shield match between Auckland and Canterbury. Photo / Nick Reed

A breezy knock from opener Martin Guptill yesterday helped Auckland stroll to the top of the Plunket Shield standings after the opening round.

Guptill warmed up in impressive fashion for the forthcoming test series in Australia, stroking an unbeaten 84 to help his side defeat Canterbury by nine wickets and record the only win of the weekend.

Auckland controlled the domestic cricket clash at Eden Park's Outer Oval from the opening day, entering yesterday's opening session with some work still to do but holding a good chance of victory.

Those chances increased when Matt Quinn struck early in the morning, removing Cameron Fletcher and Logan van Beek before the Canterbury tail had a chance to wag.

Auckland picked up the last five wickets for just 57 runs, setting themselves a chase of 155 with plenty of time to spare. But Guptill still appeared in a hurry when he came to the crease, smash-ing 12 fours and a six in a 94-ball innings that saw the home side cruise to their target for the loss of one wicket.

Auckland took 18 points from the encounter to sit 10 clear of second-placed Central Districts, whose match with Otago petered out to a predictable draw on the final day.

Napier's Nelson Park treated the batsmen well throughout the four days and, after the hosts racked up 650-8 in their first innings, only a final-day collapse from Otago would have provided a result. But Neil Broom ensured that never eventuated, compiling his 16th first-class century to finish unbeaten on 131 as the visitors ended the match on 265-3.

It was a similar story in Hamilton, although Wellington had to work significantly harder for their share of the spoils against New Zealand's test pace attack.

After Trent Boult (5-97) ripped through the visitors' lower order to leave them precariously placed at 328-9, Northern Districts looked likely to be set an intriguing chase on the last afternoon.

But Dane Hutchinson (48no) and Brent Arnel (32no) then blunted Boult and Tim Southee, putting on 81 for the final wicket before the umpires decided to draw stumps.