Canterbury was never in contention yesterday, being dismissed for 101 within 35.2 overs in hopeless pursuit of Auckland's 194.

Young confidently gloved catches from Canterbury top-order batsmen Harley James, Michael Papps, and Robbie Frew, who had all scored freely against Auckland in the round-robin match across the oval the previous day, and Marcel McKenzie.

Canterbury captain Scott Pawson, who offered most resistance with his 26, and Carl Anderson also became victims of Young as the Auckland fast-medium men relished the overcast conditions.

Sanjey Silva claimed the first two wickets, John Lintott chimed in with the next two, and Craig Pryor extinguished what faint hopes Canterbury retained by claiming four consecutive wickets. Off-spinner Tane Topia finished off the tail.

In contrast, five of the first six Auckland batsmen reached double figures to deny Canterbury any prospect of making a decisive breakthrough. Pryor completed the first leg of an impressive double by top scoring with his 47.

Wellington finished third in the tournament when it polished off Otago by mid-afternoon.

Opening batsman Scott Golder, after a rapid century the day before, this time thrashed an unbeaten 83 runs from only 55 balls. He hit 12 fours and a six. In company with John Aitken, Golder saw Wellington home without the loss of a wicket in only 16.4 overs of a 45-over game.

Scores:

Final: Auckland second XI 194 (T McIntosh 32, C Pryor 47, J Pawley 31; W Cornelius 3-64, D Reekers 2-36, S Cunis 2-28, C Anderson 2-28) beat Canterbury second XI 101 (S Pawson 26; S Silva 2-19, J Lintott 2-11, C Pryor 4-35, T Topia 2-8).

For third: Otago second XI 125 (S Forde 23; G White 4-27, L Dry 2-34) lost to Wellington second XI 126-0 (S Golder 83no, J Aitken 30no).