Wellington earns more points in draw

Jesse Ryder's hundred on his comeback from injury and a doping ban was one of the highlights of a high-scoring draw between Wellington and Otago at Basin Reserve, the first game of this season's Plunket Shield. It was also Ryder's first match for Otago, after he had moved there from Wellington ahead of this domestic season.

It was Wellington, however, that took more points from the contest. They earned six while Otago made five.

Otago's top order provided a rock solid start after they were sent in to bat, with three of the top four batsmen making hundreds. Aaron Redmond made 154, Michael Bracewell made 107 and Ryder contributed 117. They were 429 for 3 before Luke Wookcock and Jeetan Patel worked their way through the middle and lower order rather quickly. Otago declared their first innings on 534 for 9.

Wellington's reply was strong too, with three of their top four passing fifty. Michael Papps and Stephen Murdoch made 79 and 96, and Michael Pollard went on to remain unbeaten on 124. They made 403 for 5 before declaring 131 runs behind Otago.

Otago weren't as impressive in the second winnings and had slumped to 178 for 6 before they were lifted by Derek de Boorder, who made 95, and Mark Craig, who made 80. They scored at more than four runs an over to declare on 369 for 8, setting Wellington an impossible target of 501 in less than a day.

Papps scored his second half-century of the game, as Wellington reached 125 for 3 before the game ended in a draw.