DRAWN GAME.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 69, 23 March 1927, Page 13

DRAWN GAME.

FIRST TEST MATCH.

N.Z. MAKE 602 FOR NINE.

VISITORS LOSE SEVEN FOR 14S,

(By Telegraph.—Press Association. 1 ) CHRISTCHURCH, Tuesday,

On the last day of the first Test match Melbourne Cricket Club v. New Zealand, the Dominion eleven completed the marvellous recovery which thev commenced on Monday, a recovery which brought them within an ace of winnin" the game, which at one stage looked hopeless. With five wickets in hand and 423 on the board, the home team played steadily until 2.4.5, when four more wickets had fallen and the score stood at 602. Some people blamed Dacre for not declaring the innings closed at lunch time, but he could not be expected to risk a defeat on the eve of the team's departure for England. The batting served to show what the team is capable of doing. Oliver exhibited his true form in getting a polished 62. Alloo and Cunningham went very near to playing a "rock" trame at a stage when the bowling was full of sting, and their fine defence deserves much praise. One of the brightest features of the game was the unbeaten last wicket partnership between Merritt and Oallichan. which yielded 75 runs in fifty minutes. Both men went for the bowling and gave an excellent display.

The excitement was intense during Melbourne's second innings when, after. a good stand by Ban*ford and Onycms, five wickets fell quickly. Two veterans, W. Armstrong and Johnstone, and later Wood, changed the complexion of the game by determined stonewalling, and only seven wickets had fallen when at 5.45 an appeal against the light was upheld. New Zealand Resumes. Jewell was unable to keep wickets owing to an injured hand, and Rogerson took his place, Dakin fielding substitute. Warwick Armstrong bowled the first s>ver from the north end and Ransford the first from the south. Alloo sent the left-hander's first delivery to square leg for four. Armstrong bowled only one over, and then gave way to Ebeling. who as usual kept the runs down, his first two overs beinsr maidens. Oliver straight drove Ransford to the boundary, and a couple of briskly run single* gained applause. Quick running gained one for Oliver, and the overthrow saw the batsmen spring for another three. Alloo broke Ebeling's spell by snicking him through the slips to the boundary. Half-past 11 saw 450 up. with Oliver 40. Warwick Armstrong took the ball from Ransford. Oliver off-drove him for a brace. Alloo followed suit in Ebeling's next over, making his total 22, but a few balls later he" tipped one from the fast bowler into Rogerson'* hands; 460—6—22. Cunningham, promoted, joined his club mate Oliver, and seemed uncomfortable against the express bowler. He sent Warwick Armstrong to the leg boundary with a long-handle shot. Ebeling sent down another maiden. Ciumingh'-m took a nasty knock on his fingers from a fast one which got up quickly. Runs came very slowly. Oliver brought his 50 up by gliding Ebeling to leg for two. His halfVentury had taken him two hours five minutes. Armstrong relieved Ebeling, and the alteration had an immediate effect— Oliver, missing the third ball, was stumped; 491—7—62: Oliver's exhibition was chanceless; the best he has given this year. Read carried on, opening his- account with a brace to leg, and later a prettv square cut to the boundary. The Fifth Century. Five hundred went up when Cunningham off-drove Armstrong high for two. It had taken six hours fifteen minutes. Cunningham was defending his wicket well, though his treatment of loose ones was original. He lifted Wood beautifully for a straight boundary. Next over he went for a big hit off Armstrong, but the break made him misshit, and the ball went to Ransford's safe hands; 510—8—16. Gallichan followed. Read hit out, getting both Armstrongs and Wood to the boundary with pretty shots. He tipped Wood into Rogerson's hands, but the chance was not accepted. Two balls later he failed to get over one and was well held by Onyons at point; 527—9—

New Zealand carried on after lunch and Merritt drove W. Armstrong to th*> on boundary. Wood sent a full toss to Gallichan, who banged it to the rails and followed up with a strong squarecut for four. He was goincr ve rv well playing strong, decided strokes. Merritt got strongly on to Armstrong, hut a •boundary was saved. Xext hall Merritt sent straight hack to the fence. Me--Titt continued to hit hard, his nevt boundary going past point, and making the total 560 and Merritt 21. The over yielded 13.

The batting was of a qualitv remarkable ]n a last wicket stand ■ (■ aUichai) employed a crisp off drive, getting four and then secured a brace to leg. and another through the slips off Wood. Weven came off th« over. Armstrong on again and Merritt put on two boundaries, bringing 580 uptwelve came off the over. Gallichan beS JI a " ,, i , Merdtt 24. Gallichan and Merritt both went for Armstrong in the next over, the former getting a £** on-drire for four. Merritt tT^xt 600 " P with a dee P drive. rU a V? W Zealand innings was de«ff o ft Gal,ichan and Merritt being not I an u d 3 , 7 res Pectively. It was a g«at finish, the last wicket adding 75.

Melbourne Go for the Runs. Faced with the formidable task of securing 384 run. in two hours and drv i ° linutes > Melbourne sent Heninning D yons t0 °P e " their second fading the attack from to J? a ,V he Visitors were ? oin g to try loofout / "T HeDdr - y kee P a keen JST2 l S u° n Sin ß les - Cunningham Si' 0n , at &* south end, Hendry legJ2 J" fi f st for two, and repeating the shot for a single two balls bSL y ° nS got a sin ? le ' and then tStLn ent \ • ? e tried t0 le^lide a ICh StrUCk his P ad ' and confident appeal saw the champion given out. s—l—4 trifl!c^ f ° rd j °i Ded on y°ns. Read was a & n ?" d on ? ons hooked a™ to the four ;i bnngin - 10u P- He g°t another sum W tl a D nea , t stroke throu g h the tE k " Ransford drove Cunningham "rough cover to the boundary. Oman/ T ; VaS , boW,in ? with *°° d »«ngth wer« P ll ° f stsn -' but the batsmen Z£« Z a ? ainst Eead - With the hS\n i ?*, TThi re P laced Read > who Md bowled three overs for 18 run*

Ransford hooked the newcomer's second ball for four, and Onyons got a nice cut for four, and another for a single, bringing 40 up. Cunningham was replaced by Read when he had bowled four overs. A 'Rot" Sets In.

The batsmen were watching Merritt, but took quick advantage of anything loose, and the first GO appeared in 45 minutes. Cunningham took Merritt's end after four overs. Ransford was getting on lo Read, and hooking him to the leg fence. The pace became slow, Cunningham commanding respect. Alloo gained much applause for brisk fielding. Ransford was the first to go, caught at point by Merritt off Cunningham's bowling. 82—2—42. He had always appeared safe, and had shown some very pretty shots. The ball that caused his downfall worked across from leg. Sandford joined Onyons, who was going safely. The innings had been in progress one hour when Blunt took Cunningham's end, and his second ball nearly had Onyons. Blunt's "wrong 'un" was coming off, and next over Sandford just missed tipping one on to his wicket. Sandford and Onyons both hooked Blunt, but the former then went out and missed, James whipping the bails off smartlv. 91—3—2.

T. Armstrong was next, and the crowd's barracking did not hurry his progress. Read got a lucky and useful wicket before the tea adjournment. Onyons played an uppish shot to point, and the next ball, a very short one, he returned weakly into Read's hands. Before that, he had never looked like going out. 91—4—43. T. Armstrong and. Johnstone carried on. Read's over was a maiden, then Blunt, with the first ball of his over, got T. Armstrong Ibw with a "straight break." Playing Against Time. Warwick Armstrong went in to stop the rot. One hundred went up after So minutes' play. Blunt bowled a maiden to Johnstone, who was not at home to the slow bowling, and Read followed suit to Armstrong. The batsmen settled down to stonewall, and the crowd grew impatient. Merritt took the ball again when the score was 103, and Alloo took over from Read.

Every run was ironically cheered by the crowd. Maidens were many, everything being patted back to the bowler. Armstrong went first, clean-bowled by a beauty from Alloc 109—6—6.

Wood came next. Dacre was ringing the changes, changing Merritt for Blunt. Alloo went off after five overs, Merritt taking the ball again. A four by Johnstone called forth a storm of applause. Wood hooked Blunt to the fence, Cunningham took over from Blunt, and proceeded to reck them down. Two maidens followed, and Merritt gave the ball to Read. Cunningham bowled several maidens, and then gave way to Blunt. A Draw on Time. Dacre took a turn himself at the other end, after Wood had varied the monotony with a couple of fours off Blunt. Gallichan had a go at the south end. The dogged partnership was broken by Merritt, who got Wood lbw, 148 —7—25. The pair put on 39 in fifty minutes. ' Rodgerson joined Johnstone and received one ball before, making a successful appeal against light, the innings and game closing at 5.50 p.m., with 148 on the board for seven wickets. Detailed scores:— NEW ZEALAND. First Innings 190 Second Innings. R. C. Blunt, c Armstrong, b Hendry 187 ', J. E. Mills, lbw, b Ebeling 5 M. L. Page, lbw, bW. Armstrong.. 89 K. C. James, b Wood 49 C. J. Oliver, st Rogerson, b W. Armstrong 62 C. C. Dacre, c Onyons, b Ebeling.. 29 A. W. Alloo, c Rogerson, b Ebling 22 W. Cunningham, c Ransford, b W. Armstrong 16 R. J. Read, c Onyons, b Wood 22 N. Gallichan, not out 39 W. E. Merritt, not out 37 Extras . 45 Total for -nine wickets (declared) 602 Bowling Analysis.—Ebeling took three wickets for 46 runs, Wood two for 126, Ransford none for 41, W. W. Armstrong three for 131, Hendry one for 40, Johnstone none for 34, Rogerson none for 30, T. Armstrong none for 9. MELBOURNE. First Innings 409 Second Innings. H. L. Hendry, lbw, b Cunningham 4 B. A. Onyons, c and b Read 43 V. S. Ransford, c Merritt, b Read.. 42 H. C. A. Sandford, st James, b Blunt • 2 T. Armstrong, lbw, b Blunt 0 R. G. Johnstone, not out 19 W. W. Armstrong, b Alloo 6 P. B. Wood, lbw, b Merritt 25 R. T. S. Rogerson, not out 0 Extras 7 Total for seven wickets 148 Bowling Analysis.—Read took two wickets for 43 runs, Cunningham one for 24, Merritt one for 43, Blunt two for 29, Alloo one for 2.

A.C.A. AFFAIRS.

rROBABLE EASTER 'GAMES

At the weekly meeting of the A.C,A. Executive last night. Mr. D. B. Moore presiding, a leteter was received from the New Zealand Council expressing surprise that the Plunket Shield had not been forwarded more promptly to Auckland, and advising that the Wellington Association had been requested to forward same. The secretary stated that the Shield had arrived, and it was decided to forward to the New Zealand Council the account for 10/ for freight. A request from the Waikato Association for a visit from an Auckland team at Easter was referred to the selectors for report. Parnell Club was granted permission to send a team to Rotorua at Easter, provided there was no interference with the club competitions. The committee decided to forward to E. H. Bowley. who leaves on Sunday evening to return to England for the season there, a letter of appreciation of his services as player-coach. The draw and arrangements for Satur day in the senior A, senior B and second grades -will be the same as last week. In the third grade the two leading teams in the A and B sections and the three leading teams in the C section will play off in a knock-out series for the championship. The two leading teams in each section of the fourth grade will play off on Saturday, and the winners will then meet in the final. Following is the draw for the third and fourth grades:— Third Grade.—Balmoral A v. King's College, at King's College: Swanson v. Henderson, at Henderson ; Ponsonbv A v. Papatoetoe at Papatoetoe; All Saints' v. Birkdale. at Birkdale. Semi-finals.—Epsom United v. Takapuna at Victoria Park; Comrades v. Mount Albert, at Victoria Park; W.Y.M.I. v. North Shore A. at North Shore. Fourth Grade.—All Saints' Av. King's College A. at King's College; Y.M.C.A. A v King's College B. at Kings College: Mount Albert v. Glebe, at Mount Albert - Takapuna v. Comrades, at Takapuna; North Shore B v. St. James', at North Shore; Birkdale v. >orthtote, at Birkdale Semi-finals.—A section : North Shore A v. Herald,' at Remuera Hockey Ground. B section: All Saints' B v. Y.M C.A at Remuera Hockey Ground.