Canterbury complete formalities against Otago

Canterbury completed the formality of knocking off the paltry 89 runs set by Otago at Carisbrook. They did so with just the loss of two wickets, Peter Fulton (31*) and Craig McMillan (30*) were the not-out batsmen. Otago's innings ended early on the third morning, with Hamish Bennett finishing with 4 for 43. It was a difficult match for batting, with no total above 200 and only Brendon McCullum, with 80, looked assured at the crease.

Central Districts beat Wellington by 54 runs at the Basin Reserve but that wasn't the big news from the day. It was confirmed that Stephen Fleming, the New Zealand captain, had broken his finger. The injury might keep him out of the new-year series against Sri Lanka. Attempting to chase the target of 329 for victory, Wellington slumped to 103 for 6 with only Michael Parlane (54) of the top order getting any traction at the crease. Jesse Ryder was run out for 0 while Fleming managed just 7 before being trapped in front. Chris Nevin (90) and Jeetan Patel (50) offered spirited, but ultimately futile, resistance. Ewen Thompson took 4 for 52. Central picked up their first points of the championship, while Wellington still lead on 16 points.

Auckland's match with Northern Districts was destined for a draw after another rain-interrupted day at Eden Park's outer oval. Chasing Northern's 255 for first-innings points, Auckland was deep in trouble at 172 for 9 when rain chased the players from the field. Scott Styris (51) scored a breezy half-century but no other Auckland batsman got going, though Kyle Mills battled hard for his 36. Joseph Yovich's golden summer continued as he took 7 for 61 off 18 overs after top scoring in Northern's innings. In the likely event that Northern will take first-innings points and nothing else from this match, the result will leave both these sides at the bottom of the State Championship table. One of the highlights of the day was a magnificent catch by Mark Orchard in the gully to dismiss Tim McIntosh for 3. Lou Vincent (0), one of the few in-form batsmen in the New Zealand line-up injured an ankle and could only bat down the order.