Early declaration earns Firebirds stylish victory

CRAIG SIMCOX/ The Dominion Post

TOP EFFORT: Wellington's Neal Parlane, ball in hand, and Chris Nevin celebrate after Derek de Boorder's dismissal at the Basin Reserve.

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Two big punts have paid off for the Wellington Firebirds, who jumped to third in the Plunket Shield and gave a grieving Dewayne Bowden the perfect tonic by beating Auckland by 99 runs at the Basin Reserve.

It was a hard fought win, coming late on the fourth day, but was well deserved.

Hundreds to Josh Brodie and Cameron Merchant and a herculean bowling performance from Jeetan Patel stood out but the rest of the XI played their supporting roles.

Wellington boldly declared at 280-5 yesterday morning to dangle a carrot in front of Auckland in the form of a 363-run target.

Clearly, the Firebirds brainstrust have learnt their lesson after being guilty of over-cautiousness last season.

Still, it looked as though the flat pitch and staunch resistance from Jeet Raval (69), Andrew de Boorder (47) and the lower order might conspire to salvage a draw for Auckland before a fired up Bowden (3-43) grabbed the second new ball to strike two crucial blows.

Bowden, whose grandmother used to be a regular spectator at the Basin, missed her funeral to play yesterday and charged in as time ticked away.

His emotion meant a couple of no-balls but more importantly a couple of wickets, those of Lance Shaw and debutant wicket-keeper Jonathon Bassett-Graham.

Patel then fittingly struck the killer blows, deceiving Raval who popped a simple catch to 12th man Stewart Rhodes under the helmet and taking the last wicket of Nick Turner lbw.

Patel wheeled down 70.4 overs in two innings, finishing with match figures of 7-160 and inclusion in the test squad.

Wellington captain Matthew Bell cut a satisfied figure after his two gambles came off.

One was playing three spinners – Patel, Luke Woodcock and Robbie Schaw – who all contributed and the second, the declaration, which gave Auckland's powerful batting lineup just enough of a sniff.

"We understand that this year, we've got to be quite positive in the way we go about things," Bell said.

"You have to be prepared to take a few educated risks to win the competition. You have to win roughly half your matches to win the competition so one from two is a good start."

Earlier, Auckland's heavy hitters Martin Guptill, Richard Jones, Ravi Bopara, Anaru Kitchen and Scott Styris all fell cheaply to leave the visitors teetering at 114-5 with a draw their only realistic goal.

Wellington now turn their attention to a date with top-of-the-table Northern Districts in Hamilton on Tuesday.

Northern have the maximum 16 points from two outright wins and will be well rested after dispatching Central Districts within three days.

They will also have seamers Tim Southee and Brent Arnel available after being unwanted by the Black Caps.

Wellington may lose Patel, who has been included in the 13-man test squad, but will regain James Franklin who didn't make the cut for Dunedin.

It is hoped in-form opener Brodie, who didn't bat in the second innings, will have recovered from his bruised kneecap to take his place in the side.

Meanwhile, Canterbury beat Otago by 115 runs in Rangiora yesterday to move into second place.

- © Fairfax NZ News