McMillan helps Canterbury to first bonus point

Craig McMillan made an effortless transition from Test to limited overs cricket, scoring a century from 77 balls as Canterbury beat national one-day champions Central Districts by five wickets in a State Shield match at Pukekura Park today.

With the impetus provided by McMillan, who was 109 not out at the end, Canterbury surpassed Central's total of 213/5 in only 35.3 overs and a tick more than two and a half hours, embellishing their first round win with a bonus point.

McMillan's was the marquee name that brought cricket fans to Pukekura Park in their hundreds and he performed to his billing, hitting nine fours and six sixes in a superb, match-winning performance. His innings overshadowed the return to form of his Black Caps team-mate Mathew Sinclair, who made 90 to inflate Central's total.

There were similarities and contrasts in the innings of McMillan and Sinclair. Both came to the crease early in their teams' innings and with superficial damage to repair. Central were 10/1 in the third over when Sinclair began his innings and Canterbury 4/1 when McMillan injected some venom into their reply.

They diverged in the manner in which they built their totals. Sinclair was studied and played with some of the grace, the crispness which marks his best form. He batted between the third and 49th overs and he worked the ball, more than punished it in accumulating eight boundaries.

Sinclair batted for 159 minutes - eight minutes longer than the entire Canterbury innings - and faced 118 balls, selecting carefully the deliveries he turned to the square and fine boundaries - scoring otherwise with assertive pushes to long on and long off.

McMillan was typically belligerent, striking the ball with immense power and taking his sixes to every corner of the ground. He began in the second over and carried his bat for the remainder of the innings.

But for an uncharacteristic lull in his scoring when he was in his 80s and batting with Chris Harris, he might have reached his century even more quickly. He brought up his half century, with a six off Glen Sulzberger, from 46 balls in 68 minutes, and his 100 with a six from Brent Hefford from 77 balls in five minutes more than two hours. His second half century took 57 minutes and 31 balls - belying the suggestion he had slowed, though he was deprived of the strike.

The big attraction of the day was the prospect of seeing McMillan and Chris Cairns, two of the biggest hitters in the game, batting in tandem, taking full advantage of Pukekura Park's short boundaries. Their association, which began when Canterbury was 103/3 in the 20th over lasted only 17 minutes but produced 42 runs, including four sixes.

The best of McMillan's shots was his first six over long off, from Sulzberger, which flew over the tractor shed and into the botanical gardens, pursued by a posse of excited children. He hoisted another almost to the top of the steep northern terrace and a third into the same embankment where it ricocheted off a colourful beach umbrella.

He added 44 runs with Harris in 35 minutes, before Harris was run out, and 24 with Darron Reekers, who completed the win with a six over midwicket off Campbell Furlong.

Central were unable to reach a scoring rate which seemed likely to test Canterbury's big hitters and by the end of the 50th over were averaging little more than four runs per over, even with Sinclair's encouragement.

Sinclair had shared partnerships of 83 with Ben Smith, whose dismissal for 48 was a huge blow to Central's interests, and of 95 with Richard King who reached his half century off the last ball of the innings.

Harris and Carl Anderson limited Central's total with some accurate bowling through the middle of the innings. Both bowled 10 overs consecutively, Harris at a cost of 48 runs and Anderson for 33 with Smith's wicket.