Murdoch ton hands Wellington first win

Wellington finally won their first match in this season's Ford Trophy, their first in five attempts, on the back of a century from Stephen Murdoch and a four-for from fast bowler Brent Arnel.

Otago chose to bowl and struck an early blow before Murdoch combined with Michael Pollard to steady the innings. Pollard got a half-century and the pair added 79. The innings only gained momentum later on though, as the middle order joined Murdoch and went after quick runs. A couple of cameos in addition to Murdoch's century meant Wellington got to a competitive 264 despite Neil Wagner's excellent figures of 10-3-39-5.

In the reply, it was Arnel who starred with the ball, taking three of his four wickets early on to leave Otago tottering at 56 for 4 in the 14th over. They never really recovered from there, the only innings of note coming from captain Aaron Redmond, who made 64.