Cricket: Auckland fall short despite fighting century

Auckland captain Richard Jones scored a stirring century before watching on as Central Districts almost stole his thunder in Napier yesterday.

Their State Championship match ended in a draw at McLean Park.

Jones raised his 10th first-class century as Auckland reached 276 for eight in their second innings on the last day after being left a target of 297 in a minimum of 54 overs.

The former international contributed a polished 114 off just 126 balls, including 10 fours and one six, to steer Auckland to within sight of victory.

By the time he departed the equation confronting his side was of one-day proportions as Auckland required 53 runs from the final eight overs with six wickets in hand.

It was then 44 from six after Tama Canning fell for 33 immediately after swatting a six, then 36 from five and 33 from four.

Paul Hitchcock was run out for 13 to leave Auckland 270 for six in the 51st over then Carl Cachopa was bowled in the next over by hardworking Marlborough seamer Brendon Diamanti.

Diamanti ended the innings with figures of six for 73 off 15 overs and a career-best match analysis of 11 for 155.

Central Districts had earlier injected fresh life to proceedings by batting attractively to reach 399 for five in their second innings before captain Jamie How declared.

The home side set a positive tone for the day after resuming on 200 for three, holding an overall lead of 97. Geoff Barnett advanced his overnight score from 61 to 77 before losing his wicket, leaving Jarrod Englefield and Ross Taylor to get pulses racing with a stand of 151 for the fifth wicket.

Taylor, in particular, was in a belligerent mood, belting eight fours and two sixes to speed to 92 off just 84 deliveries as he and Englefield posted a Central Districts record partnership for the fifth wicket against Auckland.

The whirlwind blew out when Taylor holed out with the total on 373 and Englefield was left unbeaten on 70, scored in just under four hours.

Canterbury v Wellington

Teams scheduled to face Canterbury at first-class level used to share a whisky or two to brace themselves for a thorough examination of their cricket skills.

Now it seems Canterbury need to stock up on the stiff drinks this summer judging by their meek capitulation to Wellington yesterday.

Despite losing more than four sessions of play due to the weather in the previous three days, Wellington completed a resounding victory at QEII Village Green in Christchurch by an overwhelming margin of an innings and 109 runs.

They did so by dismissing the home side for 222 in their second innings which followed their first offering of 181 yesterday that had paled in comparison to Wellington's imposing 512 for nine declared.

On a pitch and outfield renowned for rewarding good shots, Canterbury resumed at none without loss and found themselves under the hammer almost immediately.

ND v Otago

Daniel Flynn's defiance was not enough to deny Otago deserved victory in Gisborne yesterday.

Flynn showed commendable pluck to register his maiden first-class century as Northern Districts attempted to stave off the inevitable, before Otago scored the 81 runs required in their second innings to win the match by seven wickets with 16 balls to spare.

The Bay of Plenty left-hander, 20, was instrumental in holding up Otago's victory push after Northern Districts ended Wednesday on 104 for five in their second innings at Harry Barker Reserve, requiring another 115 just to force Otago to bat again.

Flynn and Joseph Yovich and set about making life as difficult as possible for Otago.

After Yovich perished for 42, after adding 19 to his overnight score and extending his partnership with Flynn to 92, former New Zealand under-19 captain Flynn found a capable ally in his skipper Peter McGlashan.

The pair put on 131 for the seventh wicket before Flynn's long vigil ended on 107.

Left 23 overs to score 81 for victory, Otago got home in 20.2 overs.

- NZPA