Cricket: Auckland well and truly buried

By Richard Boock

CHRISTCHURCH - Not even the loss of New Zealand's finest player could deny Canterbury their seventh Shell Cup title in nine summers yesterday.

Forced to play without star allrounder Chris Cairns for most of the second finals game, Canterbury overwhelmed Auckland by seven wickets at Jade Stadium to take the series 2-0 and continue their remarkable winning sequence in the competition.

The champions were runners-up in the 1997-98 season, finished third in the 1994-95 campaign, and now have the chance of emulating their record-breaking run at the start of the 1990s, when they won three titles in succession.

Unlike the first game of the series on Friday, when Auckland squandered a royal chance of drawing first blood, Canterbury hardly made a race of it yesterday, overhauling Auckland's 224 for six with seven wickets and 8.1 overs to spare.

The match seemed to be heading for an early finish as soon as Canterbury's opening batsmen, Nathan Astle and Brad Doody, got away to a flying start, lashing 47 off the first 10 overs as they put together 107 for the first wicket.

Doody eventually departed in the 21st over and Astle, after scoring 76 off just 74 balls, in the 26th, but Stephen Fleming ensured there would be no dramatic turnarounds with a stylish 57 off 67 balls.

Cairns, however, was able to play only a reduced role after apparently straining a side muscle, and although the prognosis is positive, would have caused not insignificant concern in the New Zealand camp when he walked off the field having bowled just six overs.

Plagued by back, knee and ankle problems for much of his career, the 29-year-old has had so many x-rays that the easiest way of locating him these days is with a geiger-counter - and he is due for another photo session at hospital today to confirm there are no structural problems.

As predicted, there were more patrons in attendance for this second match, though it was not entirely clear whether the 2500 came of their own volition or were blown in like tumbleweed by the raging nor'wester.

The game was held up on numerous occasions as bails, hats and debris from as far afield as the Main Divide scattered the ground, and at one stage - about the time the television cameramen opted to descend from their scaffolding - it seemed Llorne Howell's thigh-pad had been blown clean out of his trousers.

Thankfully, this was but an optical illusion, the offending matter presumably being nothing more than some cladding from a nearby residence, although Howell was hardly in long enough to suffer injury anyway - with Auckland making a sluggish start and slumping to 62 for four inside the first 17 overs.

It was only a fifth-wicket partnership between Dion Nash and Tama Canning that boosted Auckland's total to the realms of competitiveness, the pair rescuing the innings with 112 in 166 balls and setting the scene for some lusty blows in the last 10 overs.

Nash, who ended unbeaten on 85, brought up his 50 off 72 balls and in the process boosted his Shell Cup average to a tidy 200, following consecutive scores of 53 not out, 44 not out, and 18.

He found solid support from the aggressive Canning, who tempered his stroke-play while making 58 off 91 balls, and was the main reason Auckland were able to plunder 74 from the last 10 overs.

Auckland coach Tony Sail said his side had overcome the baggage from the first game, which they should have won, but did not manage to score a total in excess of 250 - which he considered defendable.

"The guys are hurting, but are philosophical," he said. "They had their chance in the first game, didn't take it and were then outpointed in this match. It's hard for them, but on the other hand they've improved a great deal this summer and played bloody well to reach the finals."