Wellington are without a win after two rounds of the national domestic Twenty20 cricket competition and will have to box on without batsman Jesse Ryder.
The Black Caps' left-hander limped from the field during the first innings of his side's 25-run loss to Central Districts at the Basin Reserve today after he strained his right calf while fielding.
Ryder will be replaced in the Wellington squad by veteran Michael Papps and early reports from the Firebirds' camp said Ryder could be out for four to six weeks, although more would be known tomorrow.
It's a damaging blow to the Wellingtonians, who let a golden opportunity slip through their fingers to get on the board when they met Central Districts in bright sunshine at their home ground today.
After winning the toss and batting first Central's innings stuttered along in fits and starts as nobody managed to take advantage of the conditions to post a large score.
Jamie How struck the ball sweetly for 32, but when Jacob Oram departed for 11 in the 13th over, Central were on the ropes at 87-6, before Ross Taylor blasted a team-high 37 to propel his side to 155-9 from their 20 overs.
Wellington's spin trio of Jeetan Patel (0-31), Luke Woodcock (3-20) and Muttiah Muralidharan (3-18) kept a lid on Central's scoring and Muralidharan even wheeled down a rare maiden over.
Despite the relatively low score, Central coach Alan Hunt said he wasn't too disappointed with the total.
"My stats told me the average score out here is about 158,'' Hunt said after the game.
"There is some high scores and there is some low ones, but the average is 158, so we were there or thereabouts.''
Hunt was right to feel comfortable with the effort as Ryder's injury meant he couldn't open the batting and James Franklin was elevated in the order for the Firebirds.
If Central failed to kick their innings in to gear then Wellington were equally as guilty, as soft dismissals punctuated a sub-par effort.
Youngsters Craig Cachopa (28 from 24 balls) and Harry Boam (47 from 35 balls) looked the most likely to get Wellington over the line, but when Jacob Oram turned the screws with 3-24 from four overs the asking rate became too much.
Wellington needed 45 from the final three overs and Ryder was padded up to bat in case Boam and Co were able to get within a few runs from the final balls, but with 28 needed from the last over it was decided that Ryder shouldn't be risked.
Wellington were bowled out for 130 with one ball remaining.
Central have a win and loss from their opening two games following the victory, and travel to New Plymouth to play Canterbury on Thursday and Auckland on Friday in a tricky double header.
Wellington, who are the only team without a win in the competition, host Auckland at the Basin Reserve tomorrow.
In Timaru, Canterbury beat Otago by six runs in a run-fest at Aorangi Oval.
The home side won the toss and elected to bat and piled on 198-7 from their allotted overs. Rob Nicol top-scored with 44 as the side combined to hit 14 sixes.
Neil Broom led the charge for Otago in reply as he plundered 77 from 45 balls, while Craig Cumming chipped in with 30 from 19 balls.
Otago needed six from the final ball to force a tie, but Ian Butler was unable to clear the ropes as Otago were stranded on 192-8 and Canterbury held on as young right-armer Matt Henry claimed career-best figures of 4-43 from his four overs.
