Cairns and Fulton help Canterbury go clear at the top

Canterbury 300 for 3 (Fulton 115*,Stewart 71, Cairns 66) beat Otago 270 for 9 (Cumming 52) by 30 runs
Scorecard

If Michael Papps doesn't get them, Peter Fulton will. That seems to be the continuing story of Canterbury's batting in the State Shield as they remained at the head of the table after the latest round of games today. Add to the equation the return of Chris Cairns, the captain, and the Canterbury line-up represented a heady mix.

Fulton, who scored his maiden State Shield century at Timaru today, finished unbeaten on 115. Shanan Stewart scored 71 after Papps was out for 1, and when Stewart was out, Cairns came in to launch one of his special assaults, reaching his half-century off only 39 balls. He went on to 66 before he was out, having hit five sixes in all. Chris Harris added 23 before the innings ended on 300 for 3.

Craig Cumming (52) took his time to move into a position to launch an assault, but then Harris decimated the Canterbury middle-order by taking 4 for 44 from his 10 overs. There was a chance for the Otago lower order to hit out, but all they achieved was a narrowing the final margin of defeat. Gareth Hopkins scored 37, Warren McSkimming 32 not out and Brad Scott 16 not out.

Backing Harris's effort was Stephen Cunis, who took 2 for 41, as Otago finished 30 runs short at the end of 50 overs.

Central Districts 207 for 3 (Spearman 57) beat Wellington 205 for 9 (Jones 71) by seven wickets
Scorecard

Apart from Richard Jones, who scored 71 and shared an 86-run stand with James Franklin (36), Wellington were never comfortable in their visit to Pukekura Park to play Central Districts. All the Central Districts' bowlers put up a disciplined effort with Michael Mason's took 2 for 32 being the pick of the lot.

Wellington scored only 205 for 9, a total well below what they needed on a pitch that was soon shown to be a run-scoring delight by the CD batsmen. Craig Spearman scored 57, his best score of the competition, while Ross Taylor's climb up the list of batsmen clamoring for a place in the New Zealand A team continued. He scored 53 and with Mathew Sinclair (40 not out), CD were able to claim a valuable bonus point after achieving the win in the 36th over.

Auckland 183 for 9 beat Northern Districts 175 (Orchard 79) by 8 runs
Scorecard

Kyle Mills snapped up three wickets and helped Auckland win a low-scoring thriller against Northern Districts at Hamilton. Auckland struggled to 183 for 9, after opting to bat first, as Ian Butler (3 for 30) and Mark Orchard (3 for 27) got stuck into the middle order. Tama Canning and Paul Hitchcock shared a vital 80-run partnership and prevented a complete collapse.

ND were in dire straits at 17 for 6 with Mills and Kerry Walmsely wrecking all the havoc. Mark Orchard led the fightback with a fine 79 and received valuable support from the tail. But Orchard was run-out at a critical juncture, and ND fell 8 runs short in the end.