Wellington make most of brief fine spells

Wellington knitted a collection of small and isolated fragments of play into an impressive patchwork on the third day of their Shell Trophy match against Central Districts at the Basin Reserve today.

They wove series of multicoloured strips, mostly grays and blacks, assembled between lunch and tea, another bright strip tacked on between tea and early stumps, into a seamless cloth which expressed their overwhelming control of a match which has only a day remaining.

From the threads and patches of the second session - three snatched fragments of play of respectively 10, 22, and 47 minutes, they advanced their overnight score of 297-5 to 369-7. And from the castoffs of the final session - snippets of 33 and 23 minutes - they reduced Central to 47-2.

The brightly coloured segments which stood out against the dull gray background of the day were the achievements of Chris Nevin, who moved his overnight score from 52 to 82 - within sight of his second Trophy century - before his progress was halted by an early declaration.

And James Franklin, who had seized his first five-wicket bag in Trophy cricket during Central's first innings, took wickets with the first and fifth balls of their second innings to make the quilt Wellington had embroidered from such unpromising resources more complete.

There had been no play before lunch as drifting rain brushed the Basin Reserve with an unyielding film of moisture, setting the tone for the day and exacerbating the dampening effect of the stubborn showers of the early morning.

The umpires Robert Anderson and Gary Baxter, whose position has been made invidious over the past two days by the changing nature of the weather, made a ground inspection at noon, pronounced lunch at 12.30 and hoped for a start of play at 1.10pm. The groundstaff worked feverishly during the lunch break to prepare the pitch and its surrounds for play and the first ball of the day was finally bowled, thanks to their efforts, only slightly late, at 1.16pm.

But the players were on the field for only 10 minutes and Wellington had added one run at the cost of Franklin's wicket at his overnight score of 23, when they were chased from the field by returning showers.

They were back after 20 minutes but played only 22 minutes more before the next and briefer interuption, when Wellington was 319-6. At their third attempt, the teams achieved 47 minutes of play - Wellington lost the wicket of Matthew Walker for 20 at 333 - and Nevin and Regan West quickly added 36 before they were bested again by the returning damp and gloom.

Wellington made its declaration at that point, at 3.10pm and in frustrated response to the continuing loss of time. Nevin had then batted 149 minutes, faced 100 balls and hit 12 fours to be denied a century only by the weight of necessity. West had added a breezy unbeaten 19.

Central's second innings began at 3.30 and though Wellington's 258-run lead was less than they had first expected, it was made imposing when Franklin removed Kelly and Hill with his first and fifth balls, their departures separated only by a leg bye. Central were suddenly 1-2.

Both batsmen were out to the first balls they faced and both were trapped lbw, caught on the creaseline by full and swinging deliveries from the tall left-armer.

But Central were carried on to 27-2 in the 33 minutes before tea by senior batsman Mark Douglas and the Leicestershire professional Ben Smith. Then, in the last 23 minutes of this patchwork day, between tea and the next telling showers of rain, Smith moved on to 26, Douglas to 16 and Central were 47-2.

The players were finally chased to their dressing rooms by fresh showers at 4.45pm and stumps were drawn at 6.04 with no sign of an improvement.