Michael Papps piled on the runs for Wellington as they beat Auckland. Photo / Warren Buckland
Auckland's first-class campaign has stalled on the back of three successive Plunket Shield defeats. Since beating Canterbury by 10 wickets at Rangiora in mid-February, Auckland have lost by four wickets to both Canterbury and Otago, and yesterday Wellington beat them by 213 runs at Colin Maiden Park yesterday.
Opener Michael
Papps became the 24th New Zealander to reach 10,000 first-class runs on his way to a fine 171. He joins a list headed by Glenn Turner (34,346 runs), John Wright (25,073) and Martin Crowe (19,608).
Wellington added 124 runs yesterday, leaving Auckland a target of 382, but they were rolled for just 168.
Only allrounder Donovan Grobbelaar, with 49, and wicketkeeper Brad Cachopa, 33, made much progress, as Matt McEwan, Andy McKay and Jeetan Patel took three wickets apiece.
Leaders Canterbury recorded a 183-run win over bottom-placed Central Districts in Nelson and have now won three on the bounce.
