Campbell Furlong was promoted to open the innings in place of Peter Ingram, who had been hit on the arm fielding at short leg before tea.

Andre Adams shared the new ball with Chris Drum for Auckland.

Kelly was first out, bowled by a Drum delivery that kept low for four.

Mathew Sinclair was next in. How long he batted was likely to decide the match. Sinclair's first boundary was a straight drive off Drum.

Furlong was hit on the shoulder by a rearing delivery from Drum, showing that the pitch could still be spiteful. Drum dismissed Furlong in his next over. Having survived a leading edge that fell just short of mid-off, Furlong edged to third slip where Nicol scooped the ball up.

The makeshift opener made eight from 23 balls.

Ben Smith followed with a three-ball duck. A short ball from Shaw, who had replaced Adams at the city end, did not come on as quickly as Smith expected. His hook shot dollied up to Howell at square leg. At 25/3 CD had failed to make the positive start required.

Sulzberger got off the mark with a four that squirted to third man through the close catchers. A straight drive that he hit off Adams form the the last ball before drinks was the shot of the innings so far.

Drum (7-1-18-2) has made the pitch look more dangerous than any of the CD bowlers managed to earlier today. He has got threatening lift that has remained difficult to deal with because of the unpreictable bounce.

For CD, everything depends on Sinclair. It is essential that he survives until stumps, and that others stay with him.

Reece Young went third ball after the interval, caught at first slip by Sulzberger off Mason for 17 from 40 balls, including three fours.

A few more blows and it was all over, with Drum caught behind for 20, lashing out at Hamilton, who finished with two for 82. His new ball partner Mason took two for 32 from 17 overs.

Auckland's second innings performance has shown that run scoring is possible given self-discipline and a positive attitude. But the pitch is far from lifeless and CD's target is quite forbidding. A good start by the top order is essential if they are to get close.

As if further incentive is needed, with Wellington in trouble against Northern Districts, it is likely that the winners here will head the State Championship with two rounds to go.

Things went wrong for Auckland straight after the resumption. Andrew Schwass returned at the university end to take wickets with his first two balls. First, Lou Vincent got a big top edge as he attempted to hook a short one. David Kelly waited patiently at square leg to take the catch.

Vincent scored 75 from 176 balls with 12 fours. He batted intelligently in difficult circumstances and will have enhanced his chance of selection for the Test series against England.

The batsmen having crossed, Andre Adams faced the next ball. Furlong parried an edge above his head at second slip. Sulzberger collected the rebound at first slip. Adams scored 13 from 26 balls. He never quite found his timing.

The hat-trick delivery was a disappointment, so far outside off stump that it was called wide.

The third wicket in six deliveries fell in Sulzberger's next over. Brooke Walker got an inside edge which was gathered at the third attempt by Peter Ingram at short leg. Walker stayed put, uncertain that the ball had not hit the ground.

Umpire Bowden solemnly processioned to square leg, where he entered into lengthy talks with umpire Frost. These concluded, he returned at leisure to his position at the bowling end, only raising his finger upon arrival. Walker had scored his only run of the match.

Ingram was involved in an identical incident against Northern Districts last week to dismiss James Marshall. On that occasion a certain amount of acrimony between the teams resulted.

Rob Nicol was in fine touch as soon as he came in, hitting three well-timed boundaries in four overs. Reece Young also began well, straight driving Schwass for four.

The bowler responded by bowling Nicol later in the same over, for 13, 12 of which came in boundaries. At 254/8, 152 ahead, the match was back in the balance. It had always seemed likely that, once the wickets started to fall a collapse would ensue.

Ingram found himself in the thick of the action again when he was struck on the arm by a fierce Young pull. The fielder went off for treatment at once.

Chris Drum batted in his usual direct style, scything a four through the arc of five close catchers in the first over with the new ball.

Schwass finished the session with three for 51 from 17 overs. He has overtaken Wellington's Andrew Penn as the leading wicket-taker in the State Championship, with 38 scalps to his name.

Sulzberger's marathon spell began before lunch and continued until twenty minutes before tea. He has three for 66 from 23 overs .

The events of the last hour have shown that the pitch is likely to have the last laugh in this game. CD must wrap up the innings quickly.

Llorne Howell pulled his first boundary soon after lunch, off Mason who had returned at the university end.

Sulzberger put down his second chance of the day - though it would have been an astonishing catch - off his own bowling when he could not hold on to a firm drive by Vincent, who was on 54.

Runs were difficult to come by in the overs following the interval, but Vincent refused to be tied down for long. He sent a four skidding just wide of slip off Sulzberger to bring up the 200.

Sulzberger claimed the wicket of Howell later in the same over. A full-bloodied drive was plucked out of the air by a diving Hamilton at deepish mid-on. Howell scored 12 from 41 balls.

Andre Adams was promoted to No 6 in an effort to maintain the momentum. His reputation is now such that three man were posted on the leg-side boundary before he had faced a ball. But it was from a classical cover drive off Sulzberger that Adams scored his first four.

Adams' first attempt to clear the boundary resulted in a difficult chance to twelfth man Hefford at deep square leg. He made a lot of ground, but could not hold on as he and the ball hit the turf at the same time.

Sulzberger has bowled since lunch. He has two for 50 from 19 overs.

That 175 runs have been scored today for the loss of only three wickets might suggest that the pitch has reformed overnight. Yet if a couple of sharp chances had been held, or one or two of the close lbw decisions given, things could have been very different. The rearing bounce from just short of a length has abated, but there is still movement for both seamers and spinners, if the ball is put in the right place.

Glen Sulzberger's off spin replaced that of the expensive Furlong after drinks. Richardson swept the new bowler for four in his first over. The left-hander looked in Test form a week before the series against England begins.

Another straight-driven four followed off Hamilton, who was a shadow of the bowler who took six wickets yesterday. 30 runs have come from his seven overs today.

He was replaced by Andrew Schwass at the university end. Schwass did a good job in staunching the flow of runs, conceding just six from his first five overs.

The nearest CD came to a wicket in the overs after drinks was a direct hit from Ben Smith at cover that Richardson beat by only a few centimetres.

Vincent brought up the hundred partnership with a back-foot four through the covers off Sulzberger, who was tidier than Furlong, but still did not make the batsmen fight for their runs.

But it was Sulzberger who made the breakthrough. Richardson came down the pitch to him, but succeeded only in giving a simple bat/pad catch to Ingram at short leg. Richardson scored 86 from 152 deliveries including 15 fours. During his innings he passed a career landmark of 7,000 runs. The third-wicket partnership was worth 112.

Sulzberger finished the session with one for 27 from ten overs. The departure of the countere-attacking Richardson enabled him to settle into a better rhythm.

Vincent reached his fifty with an off drive that was misfielded by Mason at mid-off. That it included ten boundaries is an indication that CD have bowled too many loose deliveries today.

The pitch did not fizz in the way that it did yesterday, but it has not run out of its stock of unplayable deliveries. The bigger difference was in the quality of the bowling and the fielding.

Auckland are 139/2, a lead of 37.

There have inevitably been a number of rejected appeals and close calls, but CD's performance with the ball and in the field has been well short of yesterday's high standards.

A niggle had restricted Michael Mason to only four overs yesterday, but the scent of wickets in the air brought him out this morning. Predictably, controversy and action was plentiful from the outset.

Mason was convinced that he had Tim McIntosh caught by Ben Smith in the gully off the second ball of the day. Celebrations reached an advanced stage, but umpire Barry Frost indicated that the ball had come off McIntosh's foot only.

The bowler got his man from the very next ball, lbw playing half forward. McIntosh scored 5 from 14 balls. Auckland were 59/2.

Mark Richardson registered the first runs of the day by cover driving Mason to the fence in the third over. Lou Vincent got off the mark with a pulled four in Mason's next over.

Off spinner Campbell Furlong replaced Lance Hamilton at the city end for the eighth over of the day. Furlong was driven square for four by Vincent in his first over.

Richardson reached his half-century with a lofted on drive off Furlong that landed just inside the boundary. It came from 102 balls, with nine fours. He repeated the shot a few overs later.

In the next over - Hamilton's first from the university end - Vincent brought up Auckalnd's hundred and ensured that CD would have to bat again with a pulled four. In the same over Vincent was dropped by Sulzberger at first slip. It was a difficult chance, to the fielder's left, but was the sort that was gobbled up yesterday.

The scoring rate accelerated markedly in the overs before drinks. Twice in two balls Vincent hooked Hamilton no-balls to the mid-wicket boundary. The last over before drinks also went for eight.

The batsmen were being positive while exercising good shot selection, but the CD bowling was not as tight as it had been yesterday, with too many boundary opportunities offered. Richardson and Vincent were positive and selected the balls to hit well.

Furlong obtained some turn, but conceded 32 runs from five overs, much more than CD could afford.

Though only one wicket has fallen this morning, it could easily have been more. Batting is likely to remain difficult, so Auckland have their noses in front for the first time in the match.

Auckland resume needing 43 to make CD bat again, with nine wickets standing. A target of anything more than a hundred could take some getting. Neither coach believes that the pitch is going to get any better as the game goes on.

Twenty-one wickets fell on day one on a pitch that was untrustworthy from the start. Lateral movement and rearing bounce conspired to make batting an unpredictable experience, though Glen Sulzberger showed that playing straight and good shot selection were useful aids to survival.

The corresponding fixture between these teams on this ground last year also finished in two days, suggesting that this could be the last time for a while that Palmerston North sees first-class cricket.

The winners will go top of the table, at least until the Wellington versus Northern Districts game finishes.