Central's win furthers Wellington's mixed domestic fortunes

Wellington approached Christmas brightly situated at the top of one tree but left frayed and neglected at the foot of another after their 48-run Shell Cup loss to Central Districts at the Basin Reserve today.

Their innings victory over Central in the Trophy match which ended yesterday left them poised, after three rounds, at the summit of that competition but their third successive loss in Cup games placed them, despondently, at the bottom of the one-day championship.

Wellington's rich batting lineup lost some of its usual glitter when, even with the decorative presence of Black Caps captain Stephen Fleming, it was all out for 218 in 46.4 overs in reply to Central's imposing 266-8.

It seemed hard to credit today, accounting for all festive surprises, that a batting order such as Wellington's, which included three one-day internationals - among them Roger Twose, the second-best one-day batsman in the world - failed so comprehensively.

Central Districts got full value for money from its returned internationals - Matthew Sinclair, who scored 22 to set the rapid tempo of its innings, Craig Spearman, who maintained that pace with 53 from 48 balls, and Glen Sulzberger who scored an unbeaten 12 and bowled containingly.

In contrast, Fleming was out cheaply in his first Cup innings for Wellington, Twose was run out for 5 in a dismissal which seemed suggestive of the wasteful extravagance of the season and Chris Nevin burned briefly, as a bright and guiding star, before being out for 29 in the seventh over.

At the same time, two innings of stirling character held together the first and second halves of Central's innings and made sure their total would be formidable. David Kelly batted for 132 minutes for 63 through the first 33 overs of the innings, sharing partnerships of 43 with Sinclair for the first wicket, 94 with Spearman for the second and 31 with Leicestershire professional Ben Smith for the fourth.

Then Smith, who batted 87 minutes between the 25th and 48th overs, held together the second half of the innings, scoring 54 and sharing partnerships of 32 with Mark Douglas, who made 23 and 44 with Jacob Oram who made 15.

National selector Brian McKechnie may have been eager to spread the glad tidings of Sinclair and Spearman's form, given its relevance to the eventual selection of the New Zealand one-day side. He would have been relatively happy with Nevin's display, though New Zealand's one-day keeper batted with a certain indifference to his fate and was twice dropped - once from a sitter to fine leg - as he and Wellington romped along at more than eight an over for the first for the first six overs.

McKechnie would hardly have been disturbed with the form of Fleming or Twose, whose one-day pedigress are unchallenged and whose failures today were costly to Wellington but insignificant in the wider scheme of things. The New Zealand captain's innings of 12, which occupied 19 minutes and included two boundaries, was hesitant by his standards but his eventual dismissal, to a catch at square leg, was unfortunately typical of his tendancy to sell his wicket cheaply.

Neither Sinclair nor Spearman seemed to be suffering unduly from their recent international travel and their long trek through Africa. Sinclair's was a brief but delightful innings which was characterised by crisp hitting and neat placement, distinguished by two superb drives for four. When he was out in the 7th over, Central were already 43 and a cracking pace had been established.

Spearman continued it in an authorative innings of 53 from 48 balls which carried Central on to 137 before his fall in the 25th over. He too struck the ball with telling power, superb timing and sweet placement.

But the innings would hardly have been as imposing as it became, if it was not for the performances of Kelly and Smith who played hands which were dissimilar but crucial. Kelly's was the longer labour and included six fours while Smith was typical of a player schooled in English county play because it contained only 4 boundaries, rather, was built on good placement and strong running.

Wellington started their pursuit of Central's total, with Nevin driving, as if they expected 50 overs to be far too many for their purposes. Nevin's first scoring shot was a ballistic drive through point but he should have been out next ball when he swiped the ball in a looping arc towards Gareth West at fine leg. West ran in from the boundary while wicketkeeper Mark Douglas ran back, the ball hung between them and finally fell from West's fingertips and he vainly lunged forward.

That was an singular incident in a match of bizarre contrasts for West. He was not out 0 at the end of the Central innings and had dropped the catch before he came to the bowling crease in the second over to be met by Nevin with astonishing impoliteness.

The Wellington openers blasted 21 runs from his first two overs, leaving his captain Jacob Oram no choice but to remove him and send him back to his lonely vigil on the fence. But he was recalled to the attack, from the southern rather than the northern end, in the 13th over and his comeback after such a crushing beginning was remarkable.

He bowled with much greater accuracy and penetration and finally despatched his 10 overs for 41 runs, taking the wickets of Matthew Bell for 32, Mark Jefferson for 32 and Matthew Walker for 4.

Wellington was 52 when Nevin was out and lost Fleming and Bell successively at 76, Twose at 85 in the 18th over. Jason Wells came to the wicket at that point and carried Wellington through to the 47th over, till he was the last man out, run out for 58.

Wells had taken the role of Kelly and Smith, as the sheet anchor of the innings and he assembled partnerships of 25 with Stephen Mather, 37 with James Franklin and 57 inm 45 minutes with Jefferson. These were the hope of the innings after the loss of Wellington's internationals but as Central's attack restricted the home side, the target loomed larger and the run rate increased.

Wells batted in total for 114 minutes and hit three boundaries in an innings which supported the latter part of Wellington's innings. His partnership with Jefferson was vital and when it was broken by West, who removed Jefferson's middle stump, their chase waned.