If Dion Nash did nothing more on the first day of the Shell Trophy match between Auckland and Central Districts at Fitzherbert Park than bowl four relatively undistinguished overs for 14 runs, he could have counted the day a personal triumph.

That he scored an unbeaten 55 to place Auckland within four runs of a first innings lead after they had been 21/3 in reply to Central's 132 was an outstanding achievement but subsidiary in many senses to his bowling performance.

Batting with a mixture of tenacity, aggression and defiance has become Nash's forte and he has always been sufficiently blessed with those qualities, with good technique and determination, to command a place in the Auckland side as a batsman alone.

But he made his name as a bowler and he still wants to be one - would be one were it not for a back injury which has kept him from the crease through this long season.

Nash's road back from that injury has been long and difficult but in Wellington just before Christmas he had his first sign of easier going. He bowled a few tentative deliveries in the nets one night after a Trophy match between Auckland and Wellington, testing for the first time the slow progress of his recovery. He was encouraged.

Since then Nash has bided his time but he has also harboured a strong desire to bowl again - to do so with the freedom and the zest he once enjoyed.

Today at Fitzherbert Park in Palmerston North and for the first time in many long, weary and frustrating months, Nash bowled in a first-class match.

He was Auckland's captain today and it was his decision alone to test himself. He had the power to decide if he would bowl, when and for how long.

He bowled himself in two spells of two overs as Central collapsed to be all out for 132 after winning the toss and batting. In his first spell he took no wickets, bowled no maidens and conceded nine runs. His second spell was also profitless and he conceded five runs more.

But the success of his effort today could not be measured in the wickets he took or the runs he conceded. That he had bowled at all, no matter how short the spell of how moderate the result, was a triumph.

Anyway, Nash could be comfortable in the fact the remainder of his bowlers had done the job. His new ball pair of Chris Drum and Kyle Mills had run through the top of the Central order and Brooke Walker and Tama Canning had chipped in vital wickets.

After batting, Central had been reduced to 33/4 by the first drinks break and to 98/5 by lunch with the only significant partnership of the inning already broken.

Mark Douglas and Glen Sulzberger briefly rallied the Central innings after the loss of Joseph Hill for 11, David Kelly for five, Craig Spearman for 10 and Ben Smith for two - the cream of their batting. They put on 62 for the fifth wicket in 60 minutes and Douglas made 40 from 41 balls but the partnership was tragically cut short when Douglas was out minutes from lunch.

Sulzberger followed shortly after the interval for 24 and that was the best of Central's batting gone. Martyn Sigley made 14 and Tim Anderson, the last man in, made 13 on his season debut in a 28-run stand with Brent Hefford for the last wicket.

If Auckland thought that total easily passable, they were in for another assessment. Their innings dissolved at its top as quickly as Central's had done - they found themselves a wicket down after only the second ball and they were quickly 21/3, then 38/4.

Hefford, man of the series in the Shell Cup finals, ran through their top order like a warmed needle, removing John Aiken with his second ball, then Tim McIntosh for 14 and Richard King for three. Anderson chipped in the wicket of Blair Pocock for 16 - with only his second ball - and Auckland were suddenly viewing 132 as a reasonable total.

But Nash and Kyle Mills came together as they had done in Wellington two months ago when eached scored centuries and batted Auckland out of trouble. By stumps, after a little more than 50 minutes together, they had put on 59 in an unbeaten stand for the sixth wicket and Auckland was 129/5, breathing down Central's neck.

Nash was 55 not out and Mills 25 and the memory of their stalwart partnership at the Basin Reserve was fresh in their minds.

Hefford had done his job in two good spells, returning 4-33 from 12 overs. Tim Anderson had 1-12 and earlier, for Auckland, Chris Drum had taken 3-40 and Mills 3-26, both from 14 overs.

But the bowling performance of the day was Nash's. He had faced this crisis in his career and come through it whole. Four overs were only a stepping stone but often the first step is the hardest.

© CricInfo