Otago should be awarded 10 out of 10 tonight for avoiding 10 out of 10

For the first time in this long and dreary summer - only two days from its scheduled end and with each of those days shortening in the flood towards winter - a little weary sunshine shone on Otago's back

Life has not been easy for Otago in this State Championship season and, as the season draws towards an end, as the last round of matches takes its course, there seems little possibility of an end to their suffering

Central Districts, with patience and careful application, bowled themselves to a 116-run win over Wellington in a State Championship match which ended near the middle of its final day at sunny McLean Park in Napier today

Wellington slid inexorably towards defeat, an outright loss with far-reaching consequences, on the third day of their State Championship match against Central Districts at McLean Park today

Central Districts found themselves in an imposing position when bad light, winning out over floodlights, brought an early end to the second day of their State Championship match against Wellington at McLean Park today

A tenuous equilibrium existed at the end of the first day of the vital State Championship match between Central Districts and Wellington at McLean Park today

Stephen Fleming made a powerful statement of form ahead of New Zealand's Test matches against England when he made 88 not out as Wellington beat Northern Districts by seven wickets in a State Championship match at the Basin Reserve today

New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming, batting with the obvious discomfort of an injured hip and assisted by a runner, carried Wellington within sight of an outright win over Northern Districts by the end of the second day of their State Championship

No national selectors were at the Basin Reserve on the first day of the State Championship match between Wellington and Northern Districts today but they will receive despatches from the ground, notes on form, which they will read with mixed pleasure

Andrew Penn has never known a day, in a bowling career hampered by injuries and disturbed by very public crises of confidence, like the one he enjoyed at the Basin Reserve today - where Wellington beat Canterbury by 31 runs

Wellington and Canterbury traded probing jabs and shivering upper cuts on the second day of their State Championship match at the Basin Reserve today and both quit the ring, to return for another round tomorrow, bloodied but defiant

The Wellington team cited en masse last week by a rival coach for unacceptable behaviour risked being reported by their own coach for the same offence today when they were out for 182 on the first day of their State Championship match against

Wellington beat Otago by four wickets in a State Championship match which ended 24 minutes after lunch on its third day today but this was a win accepted more with relief than with relish

Wellington will look to its captain Richard Jones to weather a final, desperate assault from Otago's spin bowlers and to carry them to outright victory on the third day of an extraordinary State Championship match at the Basin Reserve tomorrow

Wellington's entire State Championship cricket team has been cited for unacceptable behaviour under cricket's Code of Conduct and will face a mass disciplinary hearing at the end of their match against Otago at the Basin Reserve tomorrow

Fifteen wickets fell on the first day of the State Championship match between Wellington and Otago at the Basin Reserve and only 212 runs were scored at a trickle more than two per over

Catches win matches

The State Shield final between Wellington and Canterbury at the Basin Reserve, won by Wellington by 53 runs, was a match of serpentine twists and turns, of dizzying swings of fortune

Canterbury sustained a late and heavy blow on the eve of their State Shield final against Wellington at the Basin Reserve when former international medium pace Warren Wisneski was forced to quit their match squad with injury