Franklin wrecks Northern Districts

Wellington 65 for 1 trail Northern Districts 184 (Marshall 51, Franklin 5-23) by 119 runs
Scorecard

Northern Districts floundered after being asked to bat first by Wellington at the Basin Reserve. They were dismissed for a disappointing 184, with James Franklin taking 5 for 23.

Overlooked from the side for the three-match series against the FICA World XI starting next week, Franklin bowled superbly. Northern Districts were 26 for 2 before Mark Orchard and Scott Styris attempted to steady the ship. They battled through to lunch but did not last long after the break - Orchard fell to Jayesh Patel's offspinners for 27, while Styris was dismissed by Franklin for 31.

Hamish Marshall then applied himself to make the most substantial effort in the innings, scoring 51 in just under two hours. Apart from Peter McGlashan's support, however, the effort was not enough to give the side the sort of total that could be expected to put some pressure on a strong Wellington line-up.

That was borne out as Wellington made it through to stumps having lost only their captain Matthew Bell, who fell to Daryl Tuffey. Wellington ended the day on 65 for 1, a deficit of 119 runs. With Stephen Fleming unbeaten on 38, and the enterprising Luke Woodcock on 25, Wellington have an excellent opportunity to bat ND out of the match.

Earlier, Chris Nevin, the regular wicketkeeper for Wellington, was included in the side as a specialist batsman after dislocating a finger in the last State Shield match. Stuart Mills kept wicket in the ND innings.

While Franklin made the biggest impact for the Wellington bowlers, Patel also enjoyed reasonable success, returning figures of 3 for 49 to continue his impressive season.

The two remaining matches in the round start on Saturday.