Firebirds' season of woe continues

Just when the Wellington cricket team thought its season couldn't get any worse - it has.

The Firebirds' season is in danger of descending into a farce after coach Anthony Stuart fielded the full 50 overs in yesterday's five-wicket loss to Canterbury, who chased down 300 to keep Wellington rooted to the bottom of the table.

Just for good measure, Stuart dropped Canterbury batsman Shannon Stewart when he was on 98.

Stewart scampered through for two to bring up his century and though it was a tough chance and didn't decide the result, it summed up a day that went wrong for Wellington's coach from the start.

Key batsman Harry Boam was ruled out after injuring himself in the warmups and relegated to 12th man, but Wellington found themselves a man short when wicketkeeper Chris Nevin pulled a quadricep while batting.

Canterbury's offer of a local fielder wasn't taken up with Stuart donning the whites and Neal Parlane the wicketkeeping gloves as their side tried unsuccessfully to defend a healthy total of 299-7.

Wellington appeared to be on track for their third win of the one-day season with a strong all-round batting display featuring four half centuries.

Nevin, with a runner, made 36 and Luke Woodcock chimed in with 53 at No 7 as Canterbury's attack struggled to make consistent inroads.

Canterbury lost two early wickets with Mark Gillespie snicking out the competition's leading runscorer Michael Papps for six and Dewayne Bowden bowling Peter Fulton for five.

However, Rob Nicol anchored the innings with 69 before Stewart (101) and Dean Brownlie (86 not out) took the match away from Wellington's grasp, the winning runs coming in the 49th over.

In other matches, Northern Districts secured second place by beating Auckland in Whangarei while Otago beat Central Districts in New Plymouth. Auckland will host Northern in the major semifinal on Saturday, while Canterbury host Central in the minor semifinal.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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