Sinclair and Patton sink Otago as Central Districts rise

Central Districts 378 (Sinclair 108, Ingram 51, Harvie 4-73) and 261 for 2 (Patton 110*, Sinclair 52*) beat Otago 357 (Cumming 133, Broom 60, Thompson 4-64) and 281 (Todd 74, de Brooder 73*) by 8 wickets
Scorecard

A fine double from Mathew Sinclair and Brad Patton's second century in four first-class games led Central Districts to the top of the State Championship table with an eight-wicket win over Otago in Napier. Sinclair, the captain, followed up his 108 in the first innings with 52 not out while Patton struck 110 from 168 balls, including 11 fours and a six, as the home side reached 261 for 2 with 8.2 overs to spare.

Craig Cumming started the match well for Otago with 133 and Neil Broom chipped in with a useful 60 as the visitors posted 357 on the opening day. Ewen Thompson captured 4 for 64 while his opening partner Mitchell McClenaghan picked up 2 for 48. After Peter Ingram collected 51, Sinclair's century put Central Districts on track for the two first-innings points and the bonus, which pushed them ahead of the leaders Wellington, was achieved with a pair of 36s from the tailenders Thompson and Richard Sherlock.

Faced with a 21-run deficit, Otago relied on Greg Todd's 74 and 73 not out from Derek de Boorder to stretch Central Districts' target. Jacob Oram, who is overcoming back and finger injuries, delivered another 18 overs to follow his 17 in the first innings and grabbed three wickets for the game in a promising sign for the Test series against West Indies, which starts on Thursday.