McKay puts Wellington on top

Wellington have moved to the top of the points table after a comfortable six-wicket win over Central Districts at Basin Reserve. Left-arm fast bowler Andy McKay bagged four wickets, and was backed up by the rest of the bowling attack, as Wellington restricted Central Districts to 217. The score could have been much worse had it not been for Brendon Diamanti's 68 at No.9 but his effort was in vain. Wellington faced little difficulty in scaling down the target, as James Franklin stroked an unbeaten 84 with support from Chris Nevin and Steven Rhodes to seal victory with almost six overs to spare.

Powered by a strong middle-order performance, Auckland eased to a comfortable 37-run victory against Otago at Colin Maiden Park. After electing to bat, the home team lost the wickets of Richard Jones and Anaru Kitchen cheaply. Reece Young and Ravi Bopara then steadied the ship before Young was dismissed for 40. Gareth Hopkins took over the reins with a free-scoring 70, and in combination with Bopara who made 89, set Auckland on course for a sizeable score. Otago's innings began in similar fashion with two early wickets preceding a repair job, this time through Shaun Haig and Craig Cumming. Haig top scored with 81 but the rest of middle order could not sustain the effort. Auckland's bowlers shared the spoils as Otago were bowled out in the 48th over.

Canterbury recorded their first win of the competition, overcoming Northern Districts by 42 runs at Seddon Park. Shanan Stewart smashed six fours and six sixes in his 80-ball 97 to take Canterbury to a formidable 296 for 7. Canterbury were boosted by contributions of 85 from Rob Nicol and a quickfire 46 from Kruger van Wyk. In response, ND looked good to trump Canterbury after openers BJ Watling (63) and Michael Parlane (80) added 143 for the opening wicket. But a middle-order slide and a five-wicket haul from Corey Anderson marked Canterbury's comeback and took them to victory despite a belated lower-order recovery.