Cricket: 'Rusty' Adams leads Auckland to victory

Auckland bowler Andre Adams was modest about his performance against Northern Districts. Photo / Paul Estcourt

Auckland spent last summer propping up the Plunket Shield ladder; today they look down on their rivals after making a flying start in Whangarei yesterday.

Coming off a season in which they finished a distant last, Auckland edged past Northern Districts by 19 runs in a nail-biter at Cobham Oval, taking maximum points.

It was an immensely satisfying start for Auckland, who last season won the two limited-overs titles, but had a black cloud hover over their first-class campaign.

ND were left needing 264 to win yesterday, and began the third day on none for one.

At 184 for four, things looked promising for ND, before offspinner Bhupinder Singh nipped out Corey Anderson and top scorer Joey Yovich in quick order.

Auckland whittled through the ND order with veteran swing bowler Andre Adams, Singh and left arm spinner Bruce Martin, sharing the honours, Martin confirming the win by having last man James Baker lbw.

But it was Adams, 36 years young, who did the real damage, finishing with match figures of 11 for 123, five for 52 yesterday to follow a six-wicket haul on the first day, and he was delighted at the way the season had begun.

"It's a great result for us," Adams said last night. "Last year we were pathetic at times but the guys have changed the way they're thinking about the game and are very hungry to do well.

"There's been a lot of hard work done in the off season. A lot went into the Champions League [T20 in India] and there was disappointment in that [failing to qualify for the main draw]. But the upside is the guys have been training so hard and it worked out very nicely."

Adams said the key factor in the pitch's behaviour was a tennis ball bounce, which made timing and shot certainty difficult.

Adams was low-key on his part in ND's downfall. His first-innings six for 71 sliced through the ND middle order and in tandem with left armer Michael Bates' four for 37, rolled their opponents for 136, establishing a 124-run first-innings lead.

"It sounds funny but I didn't bowl very well in that first innings. I bowled about six good balls and a lot of rubbish in between," he quipped. "I was a little bit rusty but it was certainly nice to come away with 11 wickets."

It is the second time this year Adams has taken 11 wickets in a first-class game, after his 11 for 85 for Nottinghamshire against Hampshire in April.

ND will be grumpy after having got themselves back into the contest by dismissing Auckland cheaply for 139 to leave a gettable target.

Instead, Auckland took maximum points inside three days to give themselves an ideal early confidence-booster.

Elsewhere, Otago go into the final day at Rangiora on 293 for five in reply to defending shield champions Canterbury's first-innings 420 for nine. Michael Bracewell hit 95 for Otago, with Sam Wells and wicketkeeper Derek de Boorder on 58 and 38, respectively.

At Napier, Central Districts will start today on 267 for two in their second innings, trailing Wellington by 16. Former internationals Jamie How and Mathew Sinclair are on 128 and 42.

Earlier, James Franklin hit his 13th first-class hundred, 162, to follow Stephen Murdoch's third, 103, as Wellington rattled up 536 for six declared.