In a nutshell, the difference between the centuries of Roger Twose and Matthew Bell which helped Wellington to a 46-run first innings lead over Auckland on the second day of their Shell Trophy match at the Basin Reserve today, was that one aims to score runs quickly while the other just wants to score runs.

From different starting points, with differing goals and differing approaches, Twose and Bell reached similar destinations as the former made 108, the latter 104 and as they helped Wellington to 301 in their first innings in reply to Auckland's 255. Auckland suffered a setback when they lost opener Tim McIntosh to the last ball of the day and were 16-1 in their second innings by stumps.

Twose makes no secret of the fact that now his international career is firmly focused on the one-day game, he sees little value in playing long and painstaking innings at Trophy level. He aims to score as quickly as he can, playing the four day game as if it were a one day game so that his approach, regardless of his playing environment, remains consistent.

In that vein, he batted only 144 minutes today for his 108 runs and he hit 22 boundaries, setting the pace and the parameters of a third-wicket partnership with Bell of 168 for Wellington's third wicket. It spoke most highly of Twose that he managed, particularly in the second half of his innings, to eclipse a player who was in the process of posting his fourth century from only seven Trophy innings this season.

Because when Twose was in full flight, notably when he went from 50 to 100 in only 42 minutes from 35 balls, Bell was consigned to the status of junior partner. He had been at the crease almost an hour when he was joined by Twose - he was then 17 - and he had enjoyed equal status in the partnership till the pair neared their 50s. Then Twose swept past him and went on to score at such a rate for the next 40 minutes that Bell, who was still accumulating steadily, seemed almost to have stopped.

Twose posted his half century in 88 minutes and from 74 balls when Bell was 49. Bell followed him to the mark an over later after 149 minutes at the crease and after facing 111 balls. But when Twose swept to his hundred in a handful of overs and with 10 more boundaries, dominating the strike, Bell was only able to add another 15 runs.

Twose's concentration seemed to falter when his century was reached. He gave a chance - the first of his innings at 107 - and then was caught at 108 by Brooke Walker on the boundary off the bowling of Kyle Mills.

Bell then resumed his steady progress and went on to post his century - his fourth in seven innings this Trophy season - in 284 minutes from 204 balls with 13 fours. He was out at 104 after batting five minutes more than five hours and he was ultimately disappointed that he had once again been unable to turn a good century into a large century.

Bell's innings this season in four Trophy matches have been 134, 70, 12, 109, 117, 31 and 104 and he has 577 runs to his credit an average of 82.5. But he regrets he hasn't turned one of his hundreds into a 150 or 200 - a challenge he says is the next obstacle he must surmount.

The feature of Twose inning was his quickness, something he says is natural. The feature of Bell's innings, in this sharp collision of styles, was his radical new batting stance - something he has developed throughout the season but which seems awkward and unnatural.

Bell said he had batted from his new guard throughout the season - it causes him to move his feet and get more quickly in line - but his new stance was much more pronounced today that it has been at any other stage. He batted with his back foot drawn back outside leg stump, his front foot well forward and his weight tilted over his front knee, almost in the attitude of a miler at the start of a foot race.

While the stance seemed limiting outside off stump, Bell said he feels comfortable facing up in such a manner and, after scoring four centuries, isn't prepared to trifle with any part of his technique.

So Twose enjoyed his freedom today and Bell, with minor reservations, savoured the continuation of the golden weather.

"I'm trying to score as many as I can as quickly as I can," Twose said. "I think if you do that you also advance the game, which is good. It's good for me at an individual level because my desire now is to only play one-day cricket.

"I think Belly and I were both doing our own thing out there. I was trying to be positive and he was doing what he's been doing all season."

And Bell shrugged off questions about his new stance as being largely irrelevant, saying his success suppresses any instinct to change.

"My stance is only a starting position, not my finishing position," he said. "It's very comfortable for me now and ,as they say ,'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'."

Bell was disappointed that after he and Twose helped Wellington add 141 runs between lunch and tea today, Wellington didn't go on to put themselves in a stronger position. They lost three wickets for 18 runs after Twose was out and were left with a much smaller first innings lead than they would have hoped.

But the wicket of Auckland opener Tim McIntosh, who was out to the last ball of the day, leaving Auckland 16-1, had helped tip the balance of the match in Wellington's favour. They wrapped up the Auckland first innings this morning at 255, only 15 balls after their resumption at 248-8 and they head into the third day still in a position to dictate terms.

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