Wellington leap frogged Auckland into second place on the Plunket Shield standings after beating their northern rivals by seven wickets today.
The Firebirds completed a dominant display by knocking off a modest victory target of 43 for the loss of three wickets at Colin Maiden Park.
It was only fitting that Josh Brodie was there at the end on 25 not out because it was the doughty left-handed opener’s career-best 210 in Wellington’s first innings of 479 which set his team up for their third successive outright victory.
Auckland returned to the ground today needing either a miracle or poor weather to intervene to save them. Neither fronted and after resuming on 76 for six in their second innings, still trailing by 84 runs, it was only a matter of time before Wellington had their way.
But they were at least forced to wait as Anaru Kitchen and Colin Munro showed some resolve to put on 112 for the seventh wicket, with Kitchen striking a fine 83 in 206 minutes and Munro making 56 in two hours.
Once these two were parted Auckland offered little as experienced fast bowler Mark Gillespie continued his mid-season revival by claiming five for 72 off 19.2 overs.
That left Gillespie with a match haul of 10 for 139, his first 10-wicket match return in a first-class career of 63 matches stretching back to 1999.
