A devastating spell of five for 10 from seven overs from Michael Mason provided the most exciting cricket of this State Championship match and has left Central Districts expecting to win the game tomorrow.

Northern Districts finished the day on 45/5, an overall lead of only 19. They began the day expecting to push for a win by its end. Instead, only the weather can save them from a defeat that will effectively end their season.

Mason took a wicket with the first ball of the second over of ND's second innings, trapping Matthew Hart leg before wicket as he played half forward. It should have been two from two, but Campbell Furlong could not hold on to a low chance at second slip offered by Joseph Yovich.

Instead, James Marshall became Mason's second victim. He was controversially caught at short leg by Peter Ingram. There was doubt about whether or not the ball had carried. Umpire Peter Wright consulted with his colleague Mike George at square leg before sending a disappointed batsman on his way. Marshall scored two from 13 balls.

Yovich was next to go, bowled for four by a beauty that clipped the top of off stump as it swung away from him. ND were 12/3.

They slithered to 26, of which Michael Parlane contributed eight from two edged fours before he fell lbw to Mason. With the aggregate scores level, ND were effectively nought for four.

Scott Styris completed the quickest five-wicket haul of Mason's career. Extra bounce tempted Styris to cut, but the pace of the ball meant that he could not keep the ball down. David Kelly took a brilliant catch in the gully.

Mason got more out of the pitch in seven overs than the quicker ND bowlers had in more than two sessions. He richly deserved his haul, which currently betters his career-best of five for 44. He was most unlucky to finish wicketless in the first innings when ball after ball found the edge but did not go to hand.

CD coach Dipak Patel told CricInfo that Mason's performance was down to bowling a good line and length and his ability to swing the ball late. He believes that Mason and the other members of the CD pace quartet of Andrew Schwass, Lance Hamilton and Brent Hefford should be in the minds of the selectors.

"We've got quite a few who have been knocking on the door, but they never seem to get a mention. I'd like to think that all four of our fast bowlers are very close, but I don't know that the selectors think the same way. No selector was here to watch."

Earlier, Furlong and Bevan Griggs were CD's batting heroes with a stand of 180, beating the CD seventh-wicket record against ND of 133 by Martin Crowe and Ian Smith in 1983/84. Both men achieved career-bests. They batted from the start of play until Griggs was leg before wicket to Simon Andrews half an hour before tea. Griggs made 76 from 297 balls with eight fours.

Furlong followed soon after, leg before wicket attempting to sweep Hart. He fell 12 short of a deserved century, having faced 231 balls with nine fours and two sixes.

Both innings were memorable more for their concentration and longevity rather than their strokeplay, though both men had their moments. Furlong's two sixes came in the same Yovich over, an effortless flick of the pads followed by a hook to the longest boundary.

Patel described the performance of Furlong and Griggs as a "fantastic effort".

"The two batsmen were told 'be as positive as you can on this wicket' and not to play across the line. The first target was to save the follow-on. Then we wanted to get to 200. After that it was just a case of batting.

"Both of them played very sensibly and showed a lot of guts and determination in fighting through some difficult periods."

Some effective swiping by Schwass (30) and Mason (18) gave CD a lead of 26 that appeared to be of no significance until Mason began to charge in from the city end.

The ND bowling was tidy and economical, but questions will be asked about why they needed almost five hours to take the last four CD wickets when Mason needed only seven overs to remove ND's top five.

Patel believes that batting will remain a challenge for the rest of the game.

"It's looking a very tired wicket. It's the second four-day game on it. It's one of those where you're never really in, but if you're prepared to play straight and be patient not many bowlers will be able to get you out."

A win for CD would keep them three points short of Auckland and Wellington in the State Championship table, with a home game against Auckland coming up next week.

The weather could be a problem tomorrow, with patchy rain forecast.

© CricInfo