KEY POINTS:
Just a few hours after jetting in from Hobart where he had watched the Black Caps capitulate in the third ODI, Lou Vincent was doing what he loves most - scoring runs.
Unable to play for Takapuna in their Howarth Trophy two-day Auckland championship match, Vincent stepped down
to the second team and smashed away merrily to post an unbeaten 101 against Parnell at Shore Rd.
Led by 66 from Paul Hitchcock, the Takapuna firsts staged a remarkable recovery to claim first innings points, also against Parnell.
Resuming at 80/6 in their chase for 206, Takapuna reached 219/9 declared in a game which then fizzled as Takapuna reached 98/4 in their second innings chasing 202.
Howick Pakuranga scored the biggest win of the round.
East Coast Bays were skittled in their first innings for 57, with Andy Mackay ripping them apart, taking 8-18 from 9.1 overs. Forced to follow on, Bays managed 181 with Mackay adding another five wickets to finish with 13-57 from 19.1 overs.
Cornwall too won by an innings as they dispatched North Shore for 220 in their second innings, a vast improvement on their first innings 109 - as Fraser Diver took his match haul to eight wickets.
Chris Nash scored a good double for the match at Cornwall Park backing up from his 79 with the bat by taking 3-5 as the Shore lower order disintegrated.
Cornwall kept a 11-point lead over Howick Pakuranga in the white section.
In the blue section, Papatoetoe swamped University/Ellerslie by 10 wickets and Grafton did almost as well in beating Suburbs New Lynn by nine wickets at Victoria Park.
Resuming at 66/8, University/Ellerslie added only another 30 runs before being sent back in. They fared a little better in reaching 154 but only after a heroic 10th wicket stand had yielded 88 runs. Needing 34 to win in their second innings, Papatoetoe cruised home without loss.
In a rarity, Suburbs New Lynn followed their first innings 145 with exactly the same score in their second as Darren Crook collected his second five-wicket bag of the match.
Earlier, Grafton had gone from 131/4 in their pursuit of first innings points to 187/7 declared. Needing 104, for outright points, Grafton, led by 48 from Guy Coleman and an unbeaten 45 from Alan Burton, got home comfortably.
Section leaders Waitakere City held their advantage in taking first innings points from Eden Roskill with Nukesh Patel providing the individual in scoring a quick-fire 104 not out for City.
Grafton closed to within three points of City.
The next round will be played on January 12-19.
