Auckland took 45 minutes to secure victory against Central Districts at Fitzherbert Park, Palmerston North.

CD added only 15 to their overnight score of 57/6 to lose by 116 runs.

Chris Drum and Andre Adams divided the last four wickets between them. Drum finished with four for 20, Adams with two for 30. Gareth Shaw, who did not bowl this morning, took a career-best four for 12.

Adams struck first, removing Andrew Schwass in the second over of the day. Schwass edged to wicket-keeper Reece Young for three.

Most CD hopes now rested with skipper Jacob Oram. Making only his second appearance of the season after recovering from a foot injury, Oram looked out of touch, though the pitch hardly offered a basis for a fair assessment.

Both Drum and Adams had several near misses as they exploited the abundant variations of movement and bounce on offer.

Oram finally struck out against Adams, driving a four through mid-off. Up to that point only six runs had been scored in a ball short of eight overs. With the ever-present threat that the next delivery would be 'the ball with your name on it', as Auckland coach Tony Sail put it yesterday, it was important to keep the score moving.

The third ball of the ninth over was stamped 'Peter Ingram'. The opener came in at No 9 after being hit on the arm while fielding at short leg yesterday. A tentative push down the line of off stump gave Young his second catch of the morning, low to his right. Ingram made one from 20 balls. CD were 67/8.

Oram was out hooking Adams, having taken 76 balls to score ten. The ball came on slightly quicker than expected and the catch went straight to Drum at long leg.

Last-wicket pair Michael Mason and Lance Hamilton came together with 118 still needed. Mason lashed out bravely, but was caught by mid-on Mark Richardson off Drum for two to finish the game off.

CD take two points for their first innings lead, Auckland six for the outright win. Auckland remain at the top of the State Championship table. CD's title hopes have all but gone. They need to win both their remaining games, while depending upon neither Auckland or Wellington securing another outright win.

CD coach Dipak Patel was disappointed that his team threw away a first-innings lead of 102 on a low-scoring track.

"We had a great opportunity to play them out of the game," he told CricInfo after the match. "Even in the first innings I felt that we were 50 runs light. Losing Mason overnight didn't help our cause. A shoulder problem stopped him bowling much in the second innings, which was a crucial blow for us.

"Having said that, we didn't bowl well enough. We gave too many fours away."

Patel agreed that CD's fielding was also below its usual high standard.

"It's been a strength of our team, so there are no excuses for it being as bad as it was in the second innings," he said.

He refused to use the poor pitch as an excuse for the defeat.

"Batting last was never going to be easy, but to be bowled out for less than a hundred was a poor effort. One or two batsmen could use the pitch as an excuse, but the rest got themselves out."

Though batting mistakes were plentiful, a pitch on which the average figure for partnerships over the game was under 16 is not fit for first-class cricket. For too much of the match batting was a lottery, as lateral movement combined with unpredictable bounce (high on the first day, low on the second) to make batsmen's lives a misery.

Last year's fixture between these sides here was over in two days, this year's only just went into a third. It could be some time before Fitzherbert Park reappears on the first-class schedule.

© CricInfo