Kuggeleijn and Papps lead Wellington to victory

Wellington 403 (Papps 117, Ryder 162) and 248 for 3 (Papps 77*, Kuggeleijn 142*) beat Central Districts 260 (Young 121) and 389 (Cachopa 90, Raval 74, Franklin 4-71) by seven wickets
Scorecard

Hundreds from Michael Papps and Jesse Ryder set up a strong first-innings lead for Wellington, and another century from Scott Kuggeleijn helped them chase down a competitive target with seven wickets in hand at Karori Park. The result gave Wellington 20 points against Plunket Shield leaders Central Districts.

Wellington had put Central Districts in after winning the toss and dismissed them in the 60th over on the first day. Mark Gillespie, who went on to suffer a side strain on day three, struck twice in the fifth over to reduce Central Districts to 23 for 2. Will Young, who had captained New Zealand at the Under-19 World Cup, held one end up with a maiden first-class hundred and led Central Districts to 202 for 5, but had little support from his team-mates. Kuggeleijn struck twice in the 49th over and soon the visitors were 229 for 9. Young was the last man out, having taken his team to 260. Gillespie and Kuggeleijn took three wickets each for Wellington.

After losing two early wickets, Wellington ended the first day in a sound position - 176 for 2 - with Papps on 58 and Ryder on 108. They had added 161 for the third wicket. They extended that partnership to 256 on the second day before Ryder was dismissed for 162 off 174 balls. He had hit four sixes and 20 fours. Papps also went on to score a century but Wellington slipped from 271 for 2 to 322 for 8. They were taken towards 400 by 40s from Chris Woakes and Jeetan Patel and finished on 403, leading by 143 in the first innings.

Central Districts were stronger in their second innings, with three of their top four scoring a half-century, but no one went on to made a hundred. Cachopa's 90 was the top score. Central Districts wiped out the deficit with only one wicket down, but then lost four wickets for 28 runs to slip to 194 for 5. Peter Trego steadied the innings with a half-century and they were dismissed for 389 on the third day. James Franklin took 4 for 71 and Patel claimed 3 for 66 for Wellington, who needed to chase 247 to win.

Wellington ended day three in trouble. They lost their first three wickets for 34 runs and at stumps they needed 195 with seven wickets in hand. On the final day, though, Cachopa and Kuggeleijn ensured Wellington did not lose any more wickets. Cachopa scored an unbeaten 77, while Kuggeleijn made 142 off 181 balls with five sixes. It was his maiden first-class century and it led Wellington to victory.