Northern on the cusp, Firebirds on the brink

BY SAM WORTHINGTON

Northern Districts are staking a claim as the powerhouse of New Zealand cricket.

Yesterday's 10-wicket romp over Auckland moves Northern within a whisker of adding the the Plunket Shield to the one-day trophy already in the cabinet.

Teenager Kane Williamson was again the hero in Whangarei, posting a career-best 192 and taking match figures of 5-59 with his off-spin.

With two rounds to play Northern (44 points) have opened up an 18-point lead over Central Districts and Otago though Central are poised to narrow the gap with victory over Wellington today.

Wellington are staring down the barrel of another heavy loss after a substandard performance on day three.

Central will resume at 172-2 this morning in pursuit of 226 after Wellington's batting failed for the second time in Napier yesterday.

Following a first innings of 250, the Firebirds were shot out for 207 in their second dig, with Neal Parlane's fighting 90 off 259 balls the lone bright light.

Other than that the scoreboard made dismal reading as Central teenagers Doug Bracewell (4-59) and Adam Milne (3-41) again ran amok.

Both sides were hit by injuries; Ewen Thompson and Seth Rance were unable to bowl for Central while Wellington batsman Matthew Bell, nursing a broken finger, came in at No10 to score 15.

Runs have been unusually hard to come by at the usually batsmen friendly McLean Park but Central opening batsman Peter Ingram (59 off 74) and Jamie How (58 off 47) made short work of Wellington's bowling to put the hosts within striking distance when Brad Patton (28 not out) and Tim Weston (15 not out) resume today.

"The third day seems to be our killer at the moment," Wellington all-rounder Luke Woodcock said.

"Neal Parlane played really well for his 90 but we just lacked support. The wicket has been doing something all throughout the game, it's not the Napier wicket that we're used to.

"It has been a little bit bowler friendly and we just lost wickets at crucial times and we just weren't able to push on as we wanted."

Woodcock paid credit to 19-year-old Bracewell and 17-year-old Milne for making the most of the conditions for Central.

"They had two guys down but their two young quicks have bowled really well at us. Doug seems to have gained a yard of pace and Milne has got something about him. He kept running in and kept his pace up throughout both innings.

"So both of those two have bowled well and they got some reward for doing it," Woodcock said.

Central scored at a rate of 4.65 runs per over in their second innings and Woodcock said it was disappointing that Wellington were unable to exert any sustained pressure.

"We weren't able to get the ball in the right area for long enough, which was frustrating because there was something in it with the new ball.

"But we just weren't able to string it together for long enough and they were able to push away on us. Two-twenty can be a difficult chase at times but we've got 50 or 60 runs to play with and you never know."

Woodcock is one of Wellington's last men standing as the Firebirds season has been wrecked by a freakish spate of injuries.

"Touch wood, hopefully that lasts. It has obviously been unfortunate, injuries haven't helped with the way things have gone.

"But that's created some opportunity for some other guys and we've just got to keep trying to get through it as best we can."

In Queenstown, Canterbury set Otago a daunting 435 to win.

Otago will resume at 19-0 with Craig Cumming (13 not out) and Leighton Morgan (5 not out) at the crease.

Canterbury declared their second innings at 340-5 with Michael Papps (122) and Johann Myburgh (90) the chief contributors.

- © Fairfax NZ News