Cricket: Barnes marks 100th with victory

By TERRY MADDAFORD

Aaron Barnes celebrated his 100th one-day game in style yesterday, hitting an unbeaten 58 to steer Auckland to a five-wicket win over Wellington with four balls to spare at North Harbour Stadium.

The victory catapulted Auckland to the joint lead in the State Shield with Canterbury, who also grabbed a last-over win, against Northern Districts in Timaru. Chris Cairns hit a rapid-fire half-century.

With two rounds left, just one point separates the top five teams.

Bottom-placed Otago are only three points from the lead.

Auckland's victory was fitting for Barnes who, with Llorne Howell, has been the team's batsman of the summer in this his benefit season. Strangely, he is not one of side's contracted players.

Chasing 253 for victory on one of the better pitches seen this season, Auckland got home with 80-plus partnerships for the first and sixth wickets.

Openers Howell and Tim McIntosh put on 84.

Howell, in reaching 45 in his 90th match, became the highest scorer in domestic one-day cricket, passing the 2769 scored in 95 matches by Roger Twose.

He went on to reach 65 from 55 balls (11 fours and a six).

The job was finished by Barnes and Kyle Mills (32 not out), who added 85 in their unbeaten sixth-wicket partnership, despite Paul Hitchcock's best endeavours in bowling at the death.

Handed first use of what Stephen Fleming later described as the type of pitches the players have been looking for all season, Wellington scored at better than a run a minute.

While Mills bowled steadily - just eight runs conceded from his first five overs - the rest of the bowling was not as accurate.

Despairing at the rate at which his bowlers were handing easy runs to Matthew Bell and, in particular, Chris Nevin, Auckland captain Brooke Walker brought himself into the attack, earlier than he might have wanted.

Success was only four balls in coming when he enticed Bell into a false shot.

Lou Vincent, behind the wicket, completed the first of three dismissals, which included a neat stumping off a Tama Canning wide to end Neal Parlane's stay.

There was no let-up when Fleming replaced Bell.

Relishing the conditions, Fleming played as the whole of New Zealand will be wanting him to at next month's World Cup.

His first 26 runs included six boundaries. He and Nevin added 83 in just 64 minutes.

He was later felled by a nasty smack on the shin - from Howell's flaying blade - but hopes to be fit to play in New Plymouth tomorrow night.

The loss of wickets, despite some sometimes mediocre bowling, slowed the innings.

A late flurry from Paul Hitchcock (39 at a run a minute) and Mayu Pasupati (16 at the same rate) took the visitors beyond 250.

Andre Adams, likely to be used at the death at the World Cup, had 11 taken from his eighth over and 14 from his - and the innings - last.

* Another Otago batting disaster was saved an inevitable fate by the rain when the match against Central Districts at Carisbrook was abandoned.

Central Districts were 74 for two wickets off 11 overs in pursuit of Otago's paltry 161 when rain drove the players from the field at 4.50pm.

The match was abandoned at 6.30pm, with both sides gaining two points, a couple more than Otago deserved for their poor performance.nte

Otago lost their last seven wickets for 82 runs in 12 overs as they were dismissed for fewer than 200 for the fourth consecutive game.

Craig Spearman and Jesse Ryder, the Central Districts openers, feasted on Otago bowling that was too short and too wide in a rollicking start worth 65 off 57 balls.

Spearman pulled, hooked and cut merrily as he raced to 45 - including seven fours and two sixes - off 31 balls before he pulled a short ball from James McMillan to Kerry Walmsley at backward square.

The left-handed Ryder, who had scored 21 off 32 balls, had gone in the previous over, bowled by Nathan Morland when Rob Lawson took an expertly judged skier at long-off.

Central Districts needed 88 runs with eight wickets intact when the rain disrupted play for the third time - but this time there was no resumption.

Brendon McCullum's maiden one-day half-century was the lone highlight in Otago's barren innings of 43 overs. He struck five sixes.

Central left-armer Lance Hamilton did the initial damage, having Mohammad Wasim - who has scored only 42 in his last five innings - and Craig Cumming caught at first slip.