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When Nathan Astle first made the champion Canterbury one-day cricket team, it was for his miserly medium-slow bowling rather than blazing batting.

He summoned those bowling skills again at the Basin Reserve on Saturday to close down Wellington's batting just when it threatened to take control.

Astle removed Wellington's two top scorers, Phil Chandler (46) and Gavin Larsen (40), and claimed another wicket for good measure, to finish with three for 18 from five overs.

``I'd hoped to get a bowl because the wicket was slowing up and I thought it might suit my style.''

Despite a month off recently with a broken bone in his hand, Astle said: ``You don't forget how to bowl that stuff.''

While his batting has been a little rusty since his return -- he has scored one, 13, and 11 -- his bowling and fielding have been sharp.

Astle claimed two splendid slip catches to remove Roger Twose and Tim Boyer.

``When we batted, Bully (Carl Bulfin) bowled really well. He was quick and on line and with a bit in the track early it was hard going.

``But we managed to get a reasonable score and knew that if we kept the pressure on Chandler and Larsen and got a wicket it would tell ...''

Astle and Chris Cairns are the only players to have been in each of the six championship-winning teams Canterbury has fielded during its dominance of the cup competition in the 1990s.

Wellington captain Roger Twose lamented his team's inability to achieve a ``gettable'' target, but paid tribute to a classy Canterbury line-up.

``Even when we had them in trouble, they fought back like the quality side they are. They set the standard in the domestic one-day game. ``