Cricket: Slow grind puts Auckland in control

By BOB PEARCE and NZPA

Auckland opener Mark Richardson seemed to be in a contest yesterday with his old college, St Kentigern, across the Tamaki from Colin Maiden Park, to see who could reach 50 first.

The college won. Central Districts dug out Richardson for 36 compiled in 201 minutes off 172 balls. St Kentigern celebrates its jubilee next month.

When Richardson left soon after lunch on the second day of the State Championship match, Auckland had crawled from 17 overnight to 90 for one and Central Districts' first innings of 245 seemed a long way off.

Auckland's mini-drought was broken soon after as a heavy shower drove the players from the field for 106 minutes.

The pace picked up on the resumption, with Tim McIntosh reaching 80 when he was caught behind from off-spinner Glen Sulzberger.

Matt Horne scored a comparatively brisk 51 before falling victim to the second new ball in the hands of Michael Mason, who had him caught in the slips by Jesse Ryder.

By stumps Auckland had crawled to 218 for three, 28 runs away from first-innings points.

Central's bowlers toiled hard all day on a generally unresponsive pitch. Mason always looked the most likely to take a wicket.

With other games progressing more quickly, Auckland will need to top up the pace if they are to keep their championship lead.

* In Hamilton, Northern Districts finished day two of their match against Otago with a narrow first innings advantage.

As has been the pattern for most of the summer, the batsmen struggled on a difficult wicket at Westpac Park.

Resuming at 57 for two, chasing Otago's 229, Northern batted for all of the day before squeaking past their target late in the final session with their last-wicket pair at the crease.

Left-handed opener Nick Horsley showed plenty of commitment for the home team in his 59 - recorded from 140 balls in 190 minutes - to ensure the visitors did not make big inroads into the Northern top order.

Then rookie allrounder Mark Orchard registered his maiden first-class half-century in a similarly determined effort against some testing bowling from seamers Shayne O'Connor, Kerry Walmsley and Warren McSkimming.

Orchard, whose unbeaten 49 led his side to an outright win in the previous round over Central Districts in Napier, battled his way to 50 from 179 balls in 232 minutes to edge Northern closer to their target of two first-innings points.

Walmsley removed Matthew Hart and David Kelly in quick succession with the second new ball, and when Orchard was seventh man out at 183, the battle was delicately poised.

Northern's ninth wicket fell at 226, but captain Robbie Hart got the assistance required from tailender Gareth West as they nervously edged their way to 234 for nine at stumps.

O'Connor ended the day with four for 60 off 33 overs, with Walmsley and McSkimming picking up two wickets apiece.

* Iain O'Brien's wicket-taking frenzy continued when he bowled Wellington into a strong position against Canterbury at the Basin Reserve.

In his comeback game from a foot injury, the bustling medium-fast bowler took four for 27 as Canterbury were dismissed for 169 to concede a first- innings deficit of 145.

O'Brien's first-class career is something of a fairytale. He took 41 wickets in his debut season, reached 50 in 12 matches, and has taken 23 wickets at an average of 14.52 in four games this season.