134 FOR TWO

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 17, 21 January 1933, Page 10

134 FOR TWO

SHIELD CRICKET.

WELLINGTON INNINGS.

Fine Partnership by Dempster And Tindill.—Auspicious Debut By Young Left-Hander.

Faced with a hurdle of 366 runs, Wellington made a fair start in the first innings of their Plunket Shield game against Auckland, which was resumed at Eden Park this morning. The first ■wicket fell early, but a good stand by C. S. Dempster and E. W. Tindill put a healthier complexion on the score and at the luncheon adjournment the total was 112 for, two wickets. The weather

The weather was overcast, but there appeared no threat of rain, when the Auckland side, trailed by Wellington's opening pair, Dempster and Cameron, took the field at II o'clock. Dempster faced Matheson for the first ball of the day, and late cut it nicely for three. Cameron gave a broad blade to the remaining five balls of the over. Only a single to Dempster came from Weir's first over from the grandstand end, but the same batsman got a couple more by pulling Matheson to the on. The first ball of Weir's .second over saw Cameron dismissed. He walked across his wicket and just edged the ball into the hands of Garrard at first slip. 0 —1 —0. The Ra.ngitikei player scored 71 in Wellington'* first innings at Eden Park two years ago.

Tindill, playing his first Shield game, saw out the remainder of the over, although he appeared somewhat nervous. A leg bye gave the newcomer the bowling from Matheson, whom he turned for two. The first boundary of the day came when Dempster square cut Weir crisply to the rails, and in Matheson's next Tindill square cut a no-ball for two, deflected the following ball nicely to fine leg for the same number, and turned the fifth to square leg for three. By'turning the last ball of the six to the fence between square and fine leg Dempster made it eleven runs for the over. Four byes were chalked up in Weir's next, and twenty runs were on the board. Weir rang a quick change by substituting Bush for Matlieson, and good fielding by Daere at third man made'it a maiden over. Tindill, a lefthander, square cut Weir for two, good work by Pearson near the rails saving a four. It was 30 up for as many minutes' play. The scoring slackened while the'batsmen contented themselves with singles, but occasional pretty shots pleased the crowd. Dempster reached the twenties with a two to square leg and a single wide of the slips off Weir. Bush, holding an excellent length, kept the batsmen quiet, but at 40 Weir took himself off and gave the ball to Vivian. Dempster welcomed the slow bowler by on driving him hard for four. Vivian cast a deep net in the hope of catches, but the batsmen were war.y, and the left-hander's second was a maiden.

Crisp cutting by Dempster off Bush advanced the score, and the half century was hoisted, for an hour's play. A shortpitched- one from Bush -was made by Dempster to rattle the. fence at square leg, and two balls .later the sai#e batsmaij pulled one to the on for two. Dempster was not inclined to take any risks of a run out, and was subjected to good-natured chirps from the stand. Almost a Run Out. Tindill was particularly careful when facing Vivian, being content to keep him out of his wicket. There was a thrill when Dempster hit Vivian to Dacre at cover and the fieldsman shot the ball back in return. It looked certain that the ball would hit the wicket and that Tindill would be run out, but it missed the stumps oy the proverbial coat of varnish and the' batsman got home safely. Tindill exploited a strong square cut at the expense of Matheson, who had been brought back again in place of Bush, one shot for two being stopped by Mills near the fence, and another beating the fieldsmen to the rails. Dempster used his feet well to get out to Vivian, but found difficulty in getting him through the well placed field. A nice glance to fine leg off Matheson won Dempster four, and with the total at 77 Garrard took over from his clubmate.

Tindill welcomed the slow righthander by • lifting him high to the square-leg boundary, and next over he off-drove Vivian clean through the field for another four. A loud appeal for-, legbefore by Garrard against Tindill was met with a shake of the umpire's head. First two and then three byes took the extras into double figures, Hampton, the Auckland wicket-keeper, being uncertain. Wellington lost their second wicket when Garrard, began his fifth over. He appealed for leg-before against Dempster, and the umpire was in agreement. 94—2—48. The Hundred Up. O'Brien, the newcomer, played out the remainder of the over. Four more runs came to Tindill when he straight drove Vivian to the fence, and the hundred came up lor ten minutes under two hours' play when he lifted the next ball high to leg for a well-run three. A nice shot through the slips by Tindill off Garrard earned him three, and O'Brien moved off with a single. Weir took the ball from Vivian, but the change was not made, a double one, as Garrard was keeping both batsmen quiet. At lunch the total was 112 for two wickets.

This Afternoon's Cricket. The stands and terraces were much better filled when the game was resumed after lunch. O'Brien (righthander) took stroke to Bush for the initial over, a maiden resulting. Vivian was the howler at the other end. O'Brien registered his first boundary when he turned Bush neatly. The latter was bowling off-theory with a crescent of men in the slips, and when Tindill turned him gently to leg the batsmen had no difficulty in running a couple. Applause greeted O'Brien,.. who stands four inches over six feet, when he picked Bush off his pad for a shot which was a boundary all the way. Both batsmen were waiting for the loose ball to score off, and were keeping it well on the ground when they did hit it.-The Auckland fielding was keen and the handling accurate- , fck ; . :

Scores: — j AUCKLAND.—First Innings. j Mills,- b Newman 73 Postles, b Blundell 102; Whitelaw, lbw, b Blundell 46 Weir, c Parsloe, b Newman 25 Vivian, c Lamason, b Newman .... 57 Dacre, lbw, b Freeman 42 Bush, b Freeman 4 Pearson, c James, b Freeman 1 Matheson, b Freeman 0 Garrard, c Dempster, b Newman .. 2 Hampton, not out 0 Extras 14 Total 306 Bowling. 0. M. R : W. Freeman 19 1 85 4 Newman .. 43 22 105 4 Blundell ..31 4 101 2 Parsloe ... 23 4 57 - Lamason 3 2 4 - WELLINGTON—First Innings. Dempster, lbw, b Garrard 48 Cameron, c Garrard, b Weir 0 Tindell, not out 58 O'Brien, not out Extras -> Total for two wickets ........ 134

TAIL FAILS BADLY. Yesterday's Play.—Postles Tops the Hundred. A splendid start and a dismal finish were features of Auckland's first innings against Wellington yesterday. With 228 runs on the board for the loss of only two wickets, it seemed certain that the home side was set for a really big score, but after the third, fourth and fifth wickets had done their share a collapse set in, and the side was all out for the good but not sensational total of 300. The last five wickets added less than 30 runs.

In the morning, play in all departments was steady without being brilliant. Mills and Postles gave a defensive bat to anything that looked in any way dangerous, and in two and a quarter hours' play scored just a few over the hundred. Mills pleased the spectators with some delightful shots, a flick of the wrist seeming to send the ball over the ground at a great pace, but Postles was quieter and there was less colour about his play. Like the batting, the bowling was steady, but it was never deadly. Likewise no fault could be found with the fielding, the ground work being smart and clean.

When Mills and Postles settled down again after lunch it seemed as if they were likely to go on for hours, and the tally was taken to 14G before Mills lost his off stump to Newman, who had been chiefly responsible for pegging the batsmen down to slow scoring in the morning. The Eden left-hander had played an artistic innings. In the morning he had given a difficult chance at short square leg, but his play generally had been free ajid sound. It was noticeable that Mills "stoutly resisted the temptation to nibble at rising balls outside the off stump.

Postles' Good Century. With Mills gone, Postles carried on unperturbedly, playing with meticulous care. When the bowling slackened slightly, his rate of scoring brightened, but he was a long time in getting the last ten runs to give liim his hundred. For a time he got little of the bowling, and when he was within a couple of runs off his objective rain , sent the players racing for the pavilion. The shot that gave him his century was greeted'with cheers from all round the ground. Almost immediately afterwards he was bowled off his pads by Blundell. If his innings was not as pretty to watch as was Mills', it was more certain. for he gave the fie'd no chances. Whitelaw's total was made in quick time. The Parnell man made the ball flash over the ground with his strong equare-cut and also pleased with the grace of his late cutting. Like Postles, he fell a victim to _ Blundell—out legbefore. A feature of'G. L. Weir's knock for 25 wae his powerful driving. He was out when he gave an easy catch at midoff.

The brightest play of the day was seen when Dacre and Vivian became associated and put on 73 for the fifth wicket. The Parnell colt appeared more at his ease and played li's strokes with more certainty than Dacre, but both pleased the crowd; When James sent his field into the country the batsmen would pat the ball gently for a well-run single and when the. net was brought closer they would place the ball into a gap or hit it over the heads of the fieldsmen. Once the crowd laughed when Dacre patted the ball only a couple of feet in front of his crease and the pair raced for a stolen run, James making a vain attempt to throw the ball over his shoulder at the wicket. There was more excitement when Dacre popped a ball up near the wicket and four fieldsmen raced together in an attempt to get under it. It was during this partnership that Vivian hit the first and only six of the innings. The Slump. When Vivian was caught well out near the boundary five were down for 340 and it seemed certain that Auckland would top the 400 mark, but then a real rot set in and the last five wickets fell in under half an hour. Bush was bowled ' round his legs, Pearson poked his bat out at a ball on the off and was caught behind, and Matheson was bowled all the way when attempting to play back. Dacre's end came when he was out legbefore and the innings closed when Garrard gave Dempster an easy catch. The last wicket fell in the last over of the day. With four wickets for 85 runs, Freeman, the "baby" of the Wellington side, came out with the best figures. With the afternoon almost over his figures were none for 65, but he tweaked the Auckland tail to the tune of four for an additional 20 runs. After a shaky start his slow bowling took on a good length and he got plenty of turn on the ball. Only 18 years of age, Freeman, wlio can turn the ball both ways, appears as a bowler of some promise. His wrong-un should develop with practice.

Newman bowled exceedingly well to take four for 105. He kept a fine length and his medium-paced left-hand bowling made pace off the pitch. He also puzzled the batsmen by varying his pace well. Of his 48 overs, 22 were maidens. Blundell got the other two wickets at a cost of 101 runs. Parsloe wheeled up a fast medium ball without success, 57 runs being registered against him.