A 284-minute epic of determined concentration by David Kelly, the 22-year-old Central Districts batsman, left him one short of his third first-class century as he led his side to an even share of the State Championship match against Auckland which reached the halfway mark on the Eden Park Outer Oval today.

After Andre Adams had bludgeoned 55 runs from 32 balls before lunch Auckland had reached 184 and a first innings lead of 58. By stumps Kelly had taken Central Districts to 142 for three wickets and a precious lead of 84 runs.

Central Districts will need more runs from Kelly and his team-mates (Jamie How has scored seven of a 39-run stand with Kelly in 80 minutes) if they are to build a winning total.

They will also need determined bowling, for Ewen Thompson, the tall left-arm medium-fast bowler, suffered a broken forearm when batting yesterday. He will not bat and if he bowls it will be with difficulty.

Adams and Kelly are the only batsmen to score over 50 on this tricky pitch, and they used contrasting styles. Adams, batting at No 9 and coming in at 98 for seven, decided he would use his usual big-hitting style. It worked, for he hit no fewer than 10 fours in his 35-ball innings of 55 - some from magnificent strokes, others with the good fortune that favours the brave.

He was last out at 184, and in typically flamboyant style - caught on the boundary trying for a six.

Compared with Central's feeble first innings batting on the frisky pitch yesterday, Richard Scragg and Kelly gave them a much more fluent start to the second innings today.

The pitch had lost much of its mischief and both Kelly and Scragg mixed flowing strokes with sensible defence in an opening stand of 62 - the first partnership over 50 in the game thus far.

Then Auckland played another trump card, the leg-spin bowling of their captain Brooke Walker. The pitch only gave him slow turn, but very accurate. Kelly and Scragg had to dig in on defence again, and Walker pinned them down.

He had Scragg out at 62, and persuaded Ben Smith into a simple caught-and-bowled at the same score - which ran the Central Districts alarm bells again.

This time Kelly and Richard King rallied to the Central cause with painstaking defence. Walker kept teasing the batsmen with his accurate and varied spin, so Kelly and King solemnly pushed back maiden after maiden - Walker's final figures were 24-16-23-2.

Eventually King, who had just hit his first four, made a serious misjudgment, shouldered arms and had Kyle Mills hit the top of his off stump.

King had laboured 85 minutes for his seven, but at least he stayed while Kelly built the partnership to 41.

There was even more diligent defence from How - he has scored four in 80 minutes of the 39 runs he and Kelly have scraped together for the fourth wicket.

But if the stubborn spirit that Kelly has already shown - and it will be a crime if he misses his third first-class century - infects the rest of the Central batsmen Auckland may have an uncomfortable time chasing anything above 200 on this bowler-friendly pitch.

© CricInfo