Wellington open with win against Northern Districts

Wellington 230 for 7 beat Northern Districts 228 for 9 by three wickets
Scorecard

Wellington beat Northern Districts, last season's State Shield champions, in the opening match of this year's competition at Hamilton. It was the only match of the first round, with the other two games to be played tomorrow.

Northern Districts batted first and made a promising start when James Marshall and Nick Horsley put on 81 for the opening partnership. And while Grant Robinson scored 77 not out off 86 balls, batting at No. 3, only Joseph Yovich offered any support. The last five wickets fell for 30 runs and Wellington were left with a target of 229 for victory. Mark Gillespie took 3 for 39 from eight overs, while Matthew Walker once again showed how hard he can be to get away with 2 for 21 from eight overs.

Wellington started in similar vein to Northern Districts with Chris Nevin scoring 50 off 57 balls in partnership with Grant Donaldson, and while Donaldson scored only 15, the pair put on 66 for the first wicket. Richard Jones then weighed in with 48, and Neal Parlane bettered that with 54. While the lower middle-order later fashioned their own mini-collapse, Mayu Pasupati hit a quick-fire 33 off 22 balls to get Wellington home with five balls, and three wickets, to spare.

Bruce Martin was very stingy with his left-arm spinners, taking 2 for 24, while Mark Orchard finished with 2 for 30 from seven overs.