An old hand and an up-and-comer rescued Wellington from a precarious position against Auckland at the Basin Reserve yesterday.
Having been sent in, Wellington were in difficulties at 115 for five, before James Franklin and Tom Blundell righted the ship with a record sixth-wicket stand. The pair added 199 inthe Plunket Shield match, eclipsing the old mark against Auckland, 134 set by Neal Parlane and Joe Austin-Smellie two years ago.
Former international Franklin hit his 17th first-class century, and will resume today on 110, while Blundell in his third first-class game, made 118 off 158 balls, with 18 fours and two sixes.
Auckland had been hoping for a strong start to the post-Christmas second half of the Plunket Shield and for a time appeared on track to get it. Medium pacer Colin de Grandhomme took three for 32 off 19 overs, including the prolific Michael Papps, the top runmaker in the shield, for 33.
It has been a miserable season for Central Districts, winless in the HRV Cup and bottom in the shield, which they won last season. When they rolled Northern Districts for 195 in Napier, having sent them in, they may have figured they'd turned a small corner. However, by stumps CD were 109-5 and facing another battle today.
Tom Latham's 93 was the standout contribution to Canterbury's first innings 280, in which spinner Mark Craig nabbed five wickets. At a time when they need runs with the Indian tests looming, test openers Peter Fulton and Hamish Rutherford fell for 18 and four respectively.
