Cricket: Rain decides Shield matches

Mathew Sinclair notched his 32nd first-class century. Photo / NZPA

Rain had the final say as all three games in the latest round of the Plunket Shield finished in draws yesterday.

Two of the three fixtures went in to the final day of play with the possibility of an outright result eventuating, as the clash between Otago and Northern Districts was always heading towards a draw.

Auckland had the greatest chance to grab an outright victory after their clash with Wellington at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval in Lincoln took an unexpected turn on the first morning.

The Aces were rolled for 125 in their second innings after spinners Jeetan Patel (5-39) and Luke Woodcock (4-16) ran through the Auckland batting line-up.

That left Wellington needing 250 to win with just over two sessions to score the runs. However, Wellington's inconsistent top-order batting form came back to plague them and they lost four wickets with the score at 37 and were 58-5 before rain stopped play.

The delay was in Wellington's favour and James Franklin and Harry Boam came out when the ground had dried out and negotiated the final overs of play to save the game, with Wellington finishing on 86-5.

In Rangiora, Mathew Sinclair notched his 32nd first-class century as Central Districts declared at 288-4 and set Canterbury 345 to win from 60 overs. The 36-year-old was unbeaten on 118 and his knock included 14 fours and pushed his first-class average to 48.97 from 171 games.

The target of 345 was likely to be a bit much for the Cantabrians, but the weather decided the outcome as persistent rain meant only five overs were bowled by Central before the game was called a draw.

At the University Oval in Dunedin, Otago kept the wolves at bay as they batted to salvage a draw against Northern Districts.

After Northern's massive first-innings total of 482-5, a result was never likely after rain struck early in the fixture, but the game was most notable for Craig Cumming surpassing Bert Sutcliffe as Otago's all-time leading run-scorer.

The veteran right-hander wasn't going to bat due a troublesome back, but when his side were 133-5 the 36-year-old came to the crease and overtook Sutcliffe's mark of 6028 runs with a single through point.

When rain determined there would be no outright result, Otago were 210-7 in their first innings.

The Plunket Shield takes a brief hiatus with a round of 50-over games to be played tomorrow before another set of fixtures next week and then the four-dayers take a break until February.

Northern Districts head the charge at the top of the table with Auckland three points back. Points after three rounds: Northern Districts 30, Auckland 27, Central Districts 24, Otago 21, Canterbury 17, Wellington 11