KEY POINTS:
Canterbury will step on to Eden Park today in good spirits despite being on the rough end of a Duckworth Lewis foot trip in the last one-day match.
After rain interrupted their innings early against Wellington at the Basin Reserve on Thursday, they were left with only 11
overs. They reached 92 and were seen off by their hosts, who had a full complement of 24 overs at their disposal, by nine wickets.
The DL method is designed to find a suitable way to conclude a game affected by rain. It's far from perfect, but it's regarded as the best of a motley bunch devised to date.
"It was farcical, but it comes with the territory," philosophical Canterbury coach Dave Nosworthy said yesterday. "Duckworth Lewis is one of the better systems, but there are times it favours the team batting second."
So Canterbury have put it out of their minds and, having started with a good win over Otago, and being in good shape in the four-day championship, they fancy their chances against Auckland.
They've already beaten them in a four-dayer on the outer oval this season and Nosworthy reckons the young players are stepping up and making decent contributions.
Canterbury are without one of their few old hands today, Craig McMillan having been recalled to the one-day squad in Queenstown.
Auckland hit the road next week with awkward games against Otago and Wellington, so points today will be important. They've begun tidily with a good win over Northern Districts and took two points from their rained-off trip to New Plymouth on Thursday.
International Scott Styris returns after a back injury to add ballast to the batting lineup and Kyle Mills returns, subject to a fitness test on a knee.
Wellington lead the standings and should have a good contest against Otago in the capital. Otago are fresh from belting Northern Districts in Taupo on the back of an unbeaten Craig Cumming century.
ND play Central Districts in New Plymouth, and need to get moving after starting with two defeats.
They retain the same XI from Taupo, one feature of that being the first effort as a specialist batsman by former New Zealand fast bowler Ian Butler. Injury has ended his quick bowling days, but he hit 26 to start his bid to stay in the top flight as a batsman.
Wellington have 9 points, Auckland 6, Otago 5, Canterbury 4, CD 2 and ND none.
STATE SHIELD
Round three, all start noon today:
Auckland v Canterbury, Eden Park
Auckland: Richard Jones (c), Lou Vincent, Paul Hitchcock, Scott Styris, Rob Nicol, David Houpapa, Kyle Mills, Reece Young, Maya Pasupati, Roneel Hira, Chris Martin, Martin Guptill, (13th man Carl Cachopa).
Canterbury: Chris Harris (c), Michael Papps, Ian Robertson, Shanan Stewart, Andrew Ellis, Luke Vivian, Kruger van Wyk, Brandon Hiini, Brent Findlay, Sunnie Chan, Hamish Bennett, Chris Small (one to be omitted).
* * *
Wellington v Otago, Basin Reserve
Wellington (likely): Michael Parlane (c), Matthew Bell, Neal Parlane, Jesse Ryder, Grant Elliott, Chris Nevin, Luke Woodcock, Dewayne Bowden, Iain O'Brien, Scott Rasmussen, Michael Burns, Stu Mills (one to be omitted).
Otago: Craig Cumming (c), Shaun Haig, Aaron Redmond, Neil Broom, Jordan Sheed, Greg Todd, Chris Gaffaney, Nathan McCullum, Bradley Scott, Matt Harvie, Nick Turner, Warren McSkimming (one to be omitted).
* * *
Central Districts v Northern Districts, Pukekura Park, New Plymouth
CD: Jamie How (c), Geoff Barnett, Peter Ingram, Mathew Sinclair, Greg Hay, Bevan Griggs, Evan Thompson, Campbell Furlong, Brendan Diamanti, Andrew Niblett, Gregg Hegglun, Brent Hefford (one to be omitted).
ND: Peter McGlashan (c), Nick Horsley, BJ Watling, Alun Evans, Mark Orchard, Ian Butler, Daniel Flynn, Joseph Yovich, Daryl Tuffey, Graeme Aldridge, Brent Arnel, Mark Jefferson (one to be omitted).