Cricket OTAGO WIN LIKELY

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28480, 9 January 1958, Page 4

Cricket OTAGO WIN LIKELY

Spinners Tie Up Central

(New Zeaiana Preu Association) VKLMEBSTQiS NORTH, Jan. 8. After surviving a catch behind the wicket when he had scored a single, B. Sutcliffe helped to place Otago in a very sound position at the end of the second day of the Plunket Shield match against Central Districts today. Sutcliffe, who had played a leading part in Central Districts' batting collapse on the first day, scored 46 not out in Otago’s second innings total of 136 for six wickets. At stumps Otago required only 28 runs to win outright, with a full day’s play remaining. Central Districts, once again' unable to cope with the Otago; spin attack, made 175 in its second innings. E. M. Meuli, who was dropped by J. C. Alabaster off his own bowling when he was 23. played a most valuable innings for 57, but of the remaining batsmen, only N. S. Harford, H. B. Cave and D. D. Beard looked technically adequate to cope with the Otago attack. Although there were some unaccountable batting failures on a perfect wicket, the tense struggle made for tremendous interest throughout the day. It reached its peak during the Otago second innings when E. A Watson was dismissed first ball and when S. N. McGregor, J. R. Veitch, and. J. R. Reid went in quick succession.

Sutcliffe should have been caught by I. A. Colquhoun—his only blemish in an otherwise splendid display—but went on to play one of his finest fighting innings for a long time. A sixthwicket partnership with G. H. Mills yielded 57 runs to put Otago in a strong position at the close of play.

Mills was dismissed by P. Bloomfield nine minutes before stumps. It was a well-deserved wicket for the Nelson bowler, who had just returned to the field after being injured in an attempt to catch McGregor in the slips. The Central Districts attack, which consisted mainly of Cave and Beard, was again very accurate. Bloomfield had a hostile opening spell, and made a most promising debut. The fielding fell far below the standard set by Otago. Scores:—

COUNTRY TEAM COLLAPSES Simpson Bowls Well For Australia

(NJ!,. Press Association—Copyright} PRETORIA, January 7. The South African Country Districts XI collapsed after tea on the first day of the two-day match against Australia. It was only a makeshift attack by the Australians, who rested four regular bowlers. The Australian leg-break bowler. Simpson, took six wickets for 61 runs. A .rainstorm washed out an hour’s play before tea. Scores:— SOUTH AFRICAN COUNTRY DISTRICTS’ XI First Innings G. Barber, lbw, b Simpson .. 24 L. Logan, b Simpson .. ..12 A. Parker, lbw, b Mackay .. 38 R. Teale, c Benaud, b Simpson 44 M. Price-Moor, std Jarman, b Simpson .. .. ..10 E. Eaglestone, lbw, b Burke .. 10 E. Hoffman, c Burke, b Simpson 9 L. Payne, b Burke .. .. 1 A. Blenkinsop, c Benaud, b Simpson .. .. .. 8 B. Brewer, b Burke .. .. 2 G. Henderson, not out .. o Extras .. .. ..5 Total .. .. ..163 Bowling.—Mackay, 20 overs, 7 maidens, 34 runs, 1 wicket; Benaud, 6,2, 11; Simpson. 26.3, 9, 61, 6; Burke. 19, 5, 40, 3; Grout, 2, 12, 0. AUSTRALIA First Innings McDonald, not out .. ..20 Favell. not out .. .. 2 Total no wickets .. 22

CENTRAL DISTRICTS First innings 143 1 Second Innings K. F. H. Smith, c McGregor, b Cameron 9 E. M. Meuli, b Frame ■ 57! N. S. Harford, lbw, b Moir 16 D. McLeod, b Sutcliffe 10 H. B. Cave, c Reid, b Frame .. 20 R. Simpson, c Watson, b Moir .. 0 J. McGuire, b Moir 20 D. D. Beard, b Alabaster 23 I. A. Colquhoun, not out R. E. Brown, c Watson, b Alabaster 1 P. Bloomfield, c Cameron, b Alabaster 0 Extras (byes 4, no-ball 1) .. 5 Total "175 Fall of wickets: one for 22, two for 62, three for 95, four for 126, five for 127, six for 127, seven for 170, eight for 170, nine for 175 Bowling O. M. R. W. Cameron .. 12 4 26 1 Frame ..12 1 32 2 Alabaster .. 15.4 6 29 3 Moir .. 23 6 53 3 Sutcliffe .. 6 0 30 1 OTAGO First Innings E. A. Watson, c Colquhoun, b Cave 44 J. R. Veitch, c Colquhoun, b Bloomfield 9 S. N. McGregor, c Beard, b Bloomfield 0 B. Sutcliffe, lbw, b Beard 17 J. R. Reid, c Harford, b Cave .. 21 N. R. Thompson, lbw, b Cave .. 0 G. H. Mills, b Smith 9 A. M. Moir, st Colquhoun, b Beard 30 J. C. Alabaster, run out 9 F. J. Cameron, b Beard 0 W. D. Frame, not out .. 7 Extras (byes 5, leg-byes 3, no-ball 1) 9 Total 155 Fall of wickets: one for 9, two for 9, three for 56, four for 76, five for 76, six for 101, seven for 101, eight for 135, nine for 145. Bowling O. M. R. W. Bloomfield .. 16 3 49 2 Cave .. 24 7 41 3 Beard .. 12.5 7 56 3 Smith .. 2 2 0 1 Second limings Watson, c McGuire, b Bloomfield 0 Veitch, c Colquhoun, b Cave .. 17 McGregor, c McLeod, b Beard . 25 Sutcliffe, not out 46 Reid, lbw, b Beard 9 Thompson, b Brown 6 Mills, c Colquhoun, b Bloom field 26 Moir, not out 1 Extras (bye 1, leg-byes 5) . 6 Total for six wickets 136 Fall of wickets: one for 0, twc for 43, three for 43, four for 54, five for 78, six for 135. Bowling O. M. R. W. Bloomfield ..7 1 20 2 Cave .. 17 4 32 1 Beard .. 16 6 36 2 Brown .. 7 2 26 1 Smith .. 4 1 16 0