Central Districts were the only victors in Round 3 of the four-day Plunket Shield cricket competition.
CD defeated the Wellington Firebirds by nine wickets at Napier's McLean Park on Sunday, while the other two matches of the round - Otago vs Northern Districts and Auckland vs Canterbury - ended in draws.
LATEST HEADLINES:
Curtis Heaphy (75 not out from 178 balls) and Brad Schmulian (71 not out from 126) easily guided Central home on the final day, after being set 167 runs to win.
Tim Robinson got Wellington off to a strong start, with 92 from 126, including 12 fours and two sixes, but with Jayden Lennox taking 3-53 from 22.1 overs and Blair Tickner and Ray Toole grabbing two wickets, the Firebirds could only manage 251-9 declared.
Jack Boyle (72 from 130) and Dane Cleaver (89 from 181) were the backbone of CD's first innings, reaching 302, an overall lead of 51 runs. Logan van Beek, taking 4-50 from 21, was Wellington's best bowler.
Tickner (4-52 from 22) and Brett Randell (3-44 from 14) did the damage as the visitors were dismissed for 217 in their second dig. Nick Greenwood (65 from 152) and Nick Kelly (85 from 166) put on 107 for the third wicket but it was not enough.
The victory saw CD (39) pull within six points of competition leaders Northern Districts (45), while Canterbury dropped to third with 33 points. Wellington and Otago remain winless.
In a rain-affected runs-fest at the Eden Park Outer Oval, Auckland and Canterbury each batted just one innings and combined for 1013 runs.
The Aces piled on 567-9 declared over the first day-and-a-half, with Black Cap Mark Chapman bludgeoning 276 from 325, including 28 fours and 10 sixes in an eight-and-a-half hour stay at the crease.
Chapman and Will O'Donnell (60 from 156) combined for 172 runs for the third wicket, then Chapman and new Indian Premier League signing Bevon Jacobs (80 from 131) added 157 for the fifth wicket.
In Canterbury's reply of 446-3, captain Rhys Mariu and Henry Nicholls posted centuries and Scott Janett just missed out.
Mariu followed up his double-century in Round 2 with an almost six-hour 185 from 240, including 27 fours. He and Janett (93 from 174) put on a 219-run opening stand, with Nicholls (103 from 115) joining the action, adding 155 for the second wicket.
With the better part of three sessions lost to rain on days three and four, Northern Districts came up just short of a victory at Hamilton's Seddon Park.
Chasing 167 in just over two sessions for victory, play was halted by rain on three occasions before bad light forced play to be called off, with the hosts just 22 runs shy at 145-2 in 24.2 overs.
Jacob Cumming (54 from 109) and Dean Foxcroft (71 from 135) scored half-centuries as the Volts reached 301-9. S Johnston took 4-51 from 15 for ND.
A block-buster century from Brett Hampton (121 from 86) and half-centuries from Katene Clarke (59 from 169) and Ben Pomare (82 not out from 68) carried Northern's innings of 365. Luke Georgeson, Travis Muller and Jarrod McKay all took three wickets for Otago.
Matt Fisher claimed 4-72 from 15.1 and Hampton grabbed three scalps as the Volts were dismissed for 217 in their second dig, with Thorn Parkes (68 from 126) and Foxcroft (61 from 72) notching half-centuries.