KEY POINTS:
Scott Styris struck a straight six over the bowler's head to carry Auckland to a comfortable five-wicket win over Wellington at Eden Park yesterday.
The Aucklanders needed only 31.5 overs to pass Wellington's innings of 197 and pick up a bonus point.
Styris, batting with a runner after
suffering a knee strain when he was 30, once again demonstrated that the national selectors were hasty in dropping him from test contention as he was left 94 not out, scored off 75 balls with nine fours and four sixes.
He shared a fifth-wicket partnership of 133 with wicketkeeper Gareth Hopkins, who scored 79, as they rescued Auckland from a precarious 48 for four. With 176 games of State Shield cricket between them, the experienced pair gradually wore down the Wellington attack before launching some exquisite shots.
Wellington suffered a severe blow when Mark Gillespie, who had taken three wickets in four overs was unable to continue after suffering a recurrence of a shoulder injury.
Without his penetration the attack looked no better than steady and the spinners could not match the constricting efforts of Auckland's spin twins, Roneel Hira and Rob Nicol.
Wellington were put into bat on an overcast day that broke to bright sunshine and their innings never really got out of first gear. Captain Michael Parlane scored a dogged 79 off 106 balls but the scoring rate was pedestrian after the openers departed.
Neal Parlane looked ready to up the tempo but when he had scored 32 he was brilliantly caught by Martin Guptill at extra-cover off Hira with the score on 134. From 134 to 174, in the face of some excellent bowling by left-armer Hira and off spinner Nicol, Wellington scored 40 singles and lost four wickets.
Hira finished with four for 32 off his 10 overs and Nicol didn't snare a wicket but bowled his 10 for 34 runs. The pair completed their allotted overs in just on an hour as Wellington completely lost momentum.
Auckland came out clearly chasing a bonus point but their ambitions were thwarted early on as Gillespie removed openers Richard Jones and Guptill to catches behind the wicket. Colin de Grandhomme top-edged an attempted pull off the same bowler and Rob Nicol was caught behind off Grant Elliott.
Enter Styris and Hopkins. They were contained for a while but soon Hopkins was piercing the field on both sides of the wicket with elegant drives and Styris alternated between deft pushes and powerful blows.
By the time Hopkins was caught behind off Charlie Shreck, the game was won and Styris added the final flourish as Auckland raced to 203 for five with the last 50 off 26 balls.
* Central remained top of the table after beating Otago by three wickets in a rain-affected match at Pukekura Park in New Plymouth.
The result gave Central 14 points from three wins and a loss while Auckland, on a similar record, jumped into second place on 13 points after a bonus-point, five-wicket win over Wellington in Auckland.
In the day's other match, Northern Districts beat Canterbury by 36 runs in Hamilton. The result left Canterbury winless after four rounds and bottom of the table.
Central won the toss and decided to bowl first in a match that was reduced to 37 overs after an enforced late start to allow the ground to dry out.