If Canterbury can head Wellington for the second time in four days after beating it in Christchurch, it will move to 10 points on the table leaving Wellington on six with two rounds then remaining.

Even if Canterbury loses its final two games, against Auckland on Saturday at Eden Park and against Central Districts in Christchurch on Monday, it is ahead of Wellington on run-rate at present.

The game's outcome could be determined by the Basin Reserve wicket, which is likely to be under prepared with the capital having been under low cloud and fog in recent days.

Wellington is expected to field a stronger seam bowling attack than the depleted line-up which struggled against Canterbury on Sunday. Richard Petrie, 12th man with a groin injury, is likely to play, while former New Zealand fast-medium bowler Heath Davis who was stranded in Wellington by bad weather for the first game, is back in the 12.

While another quick bowler, Carl Bulfin, is carrying an ankle injury, he is expected to play.

Canterbury is likely to field the same side from the first encounter, especially if there is likely to be something in the wicket for the quicker bowlers.

Warren Wisneski was declared fit to play after being in doubt having sustained a quad muscle injury while bowling a seven-over spell in the last cup game.

After this match Canterbury will have Chris Harris available for the next match and Craig McMillan for the final round-robin encounter.

Teams:

Canterbury: Llorne Howell, Brad Doody, Craig Cumming, Gareth Hopkins, Gary Stead (captain), Hamish Barton, Stephen Cunis, Shane Bond, Mark Priest, Warren Wisneski, Chris Martin, Scott Pawson.

Wellington (from): Matthew Bell, Chris Nevin, Jason Wells, Tim Boyer, Phil Chandler, Richard Petrie, Grant Donaldson, Mark Jefferson, Mayu Pasupati, Carl Bulfin, Heath Davis, Doug Little, Glen White.

In other eighth round games Auckland (8) hosts Otago (2) while Central Districts (8) meets competition leader Northern Districts (10) at Nelson's Trafalgar Park.