Date-stamped : 11 Feb97 - 10:16 17 December 1996 Canty Demolishes Foe Wgtn skittled for 66 WELLINGTON -- Wellington cricket captain Roger Twose was trying hard to find something positive to focus on after his team crashed to an eight-wicket loss to Canterbury in a bizarre Shell Cup game at the Basin Reserve in Wellington yesterday. In what is believed to be the shortest cup game on record, Wellington was dismissed for 66 in 27.4 overs, then watched helplessly as Canterbury raced to 70-2 in 11.4 overs. The only consolation for Wellington on a day they will want to forget was that it managed to pass 64, meaning Otago retain the record for the lowest score in a cup match -- against Wellington at Alexandra in the 1984-85 season. On the debit side, it was well below Wellington's previous lowest score in the competition, 95 against Northern Districts at Tauranga in 1989-90. It was also the lowest one-day total posted on the Basin Reserve, replacing in the record books Northern Districts' 80 against Wellington in 1982-83 and New Zealand's 74 against Australia the previous year. Winning the toss was always going to be important with the extremely green wicket block, which had been covered for two days. Once Canterbury captain Darrin Murray had called correctly and put Wellington in, his bowlers ripped into their work gleefully. On a seaming, bouncy wicket, Warren Wisneski, Geoff Allott, and Chris Cairns tore Wellington to pieces, exploiting the conditions superbly to take three wickets apiece. After 14 overs, the Wellington innings was in tatters at 28 for six. Chris Nevin, who was dropped by Stephen Fleming on five, and Gavin Larsen staged a mini recovery with a stand of 26 for the seventh wicket, but it was a lost cause by that stage. Niven, with 21, was the only Wellington batsman to reach double figures, while extras totalled 24. Canty books earlier flight home Canterbury during the lunch break booked an earlier flight home, and the way openers Murray and Nathan Astle began with 30 runs from the first four overs, it was obvious it were intent on catching it. Despite the difficult conditions it was a weak batting effort from Wellington, with too many players getting out to rash shots. Larsen, who was not out on three from 44 balls, was the only one to knuckle down. Murray said the wicket had played a big part in his team's win, although he was delighted with the way his bowlers used the conditions. "There was too much moisture in the wicket for a one-day game," Murray said. "But you have to exploit such conditions and that is what our bowlers did. They bowled exceptionally well. We were determined to do well today after we let the game against Central Districts on Friday slip away when we should have had it sewn up." Twose said it was his policy never to bag his players, but said it would be "fair to say we could improve a lot". "It is a bitter disappointment, not only for the players and those associated with the team, but also the good crowd which turned out to see a game of cricket and got less than 40 overs," Twose said. "The wicket was very difficult, but we have to take some blame. By the time Canterbury batted the ball was still nipping around, but they were chasing such a low total they could afford to go for it. "The result looks really bad, but I'm a born optimist and we can still win the Shell Cup. As far as I'm concerned the main thing is to get to the semi-finals and from there anyone can win it. Points after four rounds: Canterbury 6, Wellington 5, Central Districts 5, Auckland 4, Northern Districts 4, Otago 0. -- NZPA Source :: The Christchurch Press (http://www.press.co.nz) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)