Otago had a bright start come to a dull end when poor weather stymied its progress in its four-day State Championship match with Canterbury.
Rain forced the players from the field at 3.15pm with Otago on 211 for four. Neil Broom was undefeated on 48 with Nathan McCullum at the wicket with him on 30. The pair had added 66 for the fifth-wicket and will look to push on from a promising start when the match resumes today.
Having won the toss and electing to bat, the home side got off to a rollicking start with both Craig Cumming and Shaun Haig enjoying good batting conditions and getting the run rate over five.
Cumming followed a couple of drives with a memorable pull shot and Haig smashed some delightful square drives with his trademark down-on-one-knee flourish.
Hamish Bennett could not find his range and kept disappearing to the boundary. His first three overs cost 31 runs forcing captain Kruger van Wyk to spell the pace bowler.
Veteran all-rounder Andrew Ellis replaced Bennett and almost immediately got the breakthrough when Cumming paid the price for opening the face of the bat. Michael Papps did the rest at first slip.
Haig continued the onslaught, blazing nine fours in his innings of 52. He came unstuck when he hit a cut shot on the up and was caught at deep point.
Otago went to lunch at 125 for two but Ellis arrested the momentum with two quick wickets following the break. He removed Todd on 31 and then had Hamish Rutherford caught in the gully for a duck.
It was a long walk back to the changing rooms for Rutherford. The 19-year-old has been in good form this summer and forced his way into the Otago team at the expense of contracted player Leighton Morgan.
But in his first two first-class innings he is yet to score a run and has faced just seven balls.
Broom grafted hard to score a half century for Otago against Northern last week but looked in better touch yesterday. His innings of 48 contained nine boundaries and his confidence looks to be returning.
With McCullum also settled at the wicket Otago is in a good position to build a considerable first innings total.
Ellis was easily the pick of the bowlers with three for 24 from 10 overs. Leighton Burtt and Bennett tended to over pitch and get driven too often on what was a dry pitch which offered precious little for the quicks.
• Rain sent State Championship cricketers scuttling for cover yesterday, allowing less than 100 total overs across three matches, NZPA reported.
The first day was washed out at Eden Park outer oval, leaving Wellington and Auckland to twiddle collective thumbs, while the team they share the early competition lead with - Central Districts - managed just 43.4 overs in the field against Northern Districts in Hamilton.
The most productive action came in Otago's game against Canterbury in Invercargill.
At Seddon Park, Hamilton, Australian-born Northern Districts opener Cameron Merchant was on track for his maiden first-class century as his side reached 136 for two.
Merchant (24) had reached an attractive 88 featuring 12 fours and two sixes when rain intervened.
• Scoreboard
Otago
First innings
C Cumming c Papps b Ellis 31
S Haig c Ellis b Bennett 52
G Todd c van Wyk b Ellis 31
N Broom not out 48
H Rutherford c Robertson b Ellis 0
N McCullum not out 30
Extras (5b, 2lb, 2w, 10nb) 19
Total (for 4 wkts, 56 overs) 211
Fall: 72, 106, 141, 145
Bowling: L Burtt 13-2-55-0 (7nb), M Davidson 15-6-41-0, H
Bennett 8-1-44-1 (1w, 3nb), A Ellis 10-4-24-3, I Robertson
7-3-25-0, T Astle 1-0-5-0, C Anderson 2-0-10-1
