HOLLYWOOD FINISH TO SHIELD GAME Winning Runs Scored In Epic Last Over

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30946, 30 December 1965, Page 11

HOLLYWOOD FINISH TO SHIELD GAME Winning Runs Scored In Epic Last Over

(By

R. T. Brittenden)

They have been playing cricket at Lancaster Park for 80 years and more, and there has never been anything quite as exciting: Canterbury beat Auckland yesterday, against all odds, all expectations, and all protocol.

The last three singles were scored from the last three balls °- matc^ — ar, d all of them were from byes, run as shortpitched balls soared over the batsmen’s heads. Canterbury thus won, in the strangest fashion by two wickets.

There were times, during these three days, when the purist could cavil at the quality of the cricket. There could never have been a complaint about lack of interest.

It was a game full of sharp thrusts and counter-thrusts, culminating in a finish which had spectators almost in a state of hysteria—and the excitement was shared by thousands at television sets and radios, in taxis, restaur-! ants and hotel bars. The day held as much suspense as a Hitchcock film—and it was three times as long. It began with Canterbury, two wickets in hand, needing 50 to catch Auckland’s first innings of 321.

Hand Of Fate The inscrutable fates which order these affairs arranged that Canterbury should fall 34 short—and thus have time for its bowlers to give a magnificent display of aggression, dismiss Auckland for 129, and have 155 minutes left, to score 164 runs. This run-minutes ration looked reasonable on the backs of spectators’ envelopes, but the cold figures could not take into account the Auckland bowling rate—little more than 15 overs to the hour.

Also, the difficulty of scoring against lively fastmedium bowling which made the ball lift dangerously from a shade short of a length, and at the other end, beautifully controlled flight and spin from the Auckland captain, J. T. Sparling. This game had its many heroes, and Sparling was not the least of them.

So Canterbury set out on a task which, if accomplished, would make the match memorable. If Canterbury had won in a canter, or lost decisively, it still would have been a match of absorbing fluctuations. But no; it had to be one of those finishes which add years to a man’s life, yet make him a boy. Pathfinders I. R. Hartland and M. L. Ryan were the pathfinders for what was a distinctly hazardous operation. They certainly showed the way: 68 together, in 66 minutes, and it was batting of skill and judgment.

But five were down before the score reached 100, and the determined efforts of Cunis, the parsimony of Sparling, who bowled with the grim concentration of a man fighting for his life, began to send the required scoring rate dangerously high. B. G. Hadlee played a notable part, with his sensible batting. But still the batsmen succumbed, and when J. M. McIntyre came out to join G. A. Bartlett, 17 were needed in 10 minutes, with but two wickets standing. Two minuses went by as Mclntyre battled out a maiden over from Cunis

Bartlett might not include “Julius Caesar” in his holiday reading, but he was with Brutus in recognising that there is a tide in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. 2—6—4 Attack

He slashed Sparling wide of slip for 2, went down the pitch and off-drove him magnificently into the number one stand for 6. and then ondrove, with lovely timing, for 4 And Brutus had something else to say, in the same speech; “And we must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures.” The current came from Cunis, who, in the day’s last over, bowled four successive bouncers, designed to deny the batsmen runs. A full four minutes remained when Cunis began, but there was never any prospect of there being another over after it. And from it Canterbury had to find five runs.

Mclntyre pushed the first one a couple of yards and Bartlett was at his end almost before he had started his run, but he was safely home. Bartlett French-cut the second ball inelegantly for one, and then Cunis bowled the first of his bouncers, and it soared high over Mclntyre’s head to R. I. Harford, standing back.

Stuttering Run Cunis came in, with his peculiar stuttering run, and dropped another one short. But as the ball flew through high to Harford, Bartlett was down the pitch and the bye was run. From the fifth ball, the same progress w».s achieved. Then the batsmen consulted earnestly, so did the Aucklanders. And N. S. Harford was posted almost at Mclntyre's stumps, obviously to supervise R. 1- Harford’s throw and to run Bartlett oct.

The almost animal roar of the crowd fell away and died as Cunis went back to his mark and there was a terrible silence as he moved in to bowl. Another bouncer—a red blur which R. I. Hartford leaped to intercept And he was quick with his throw—but not quick enough to defeat a Bartlett who ran like a man possessed, who ran past the wicket, into the milling crowd, and into a permanent place in Canterbury’s cricket history. And Mclntyre: shoulder-high, he was taken from the ground The schoolboys’ books insist on matches being won with hits for 6. But this broke fresh ground. It was superb in its clarity of thought and its swift translation into action.

Perhaps Auckland and Cunis were unwise to try such a stratagem when the possibilities of its failure had been so clearly prounced. But it provided a wonderful last act to the sustained drama. Sun Came Out Trying to encompass the events of yesterday’s play within reasonable limits of length is like telling the story of Alamein on the back of a post-card. For not only did the fortunes of the teams fluctuate sharply and individual performances win deep admiration when the game was at its most tense, with Auckland scenting victory and Canterbury still fighting the bowl-

ing, the fielding and the clock, the rain clouds spiralled up from the south and seemed certain to have the last word.

Some rain did fall, but it was light and brief and the huge dark clouds rolled away again, to leave the ground bathed in sunshine for the finale.

In the morning, R. E. Sutton again bowled magnificently, in rolling up the Canterbury innings and finishing with five very cheap wickets. Only one run had been added when he had Mclntyre caught behind; the nartnership of Mclntyre and Gallop realised 101 and was thus only six short of Canterbury’s ninth wicket record, set by R. E. J. Menzies and H i Davis in 1938-39.

Gallop, not at ease against the hostility of Sutton and Cunis. added another 12 before Sutton flicked off a bail with a lovely ball which left the bat. G. W. Henry, for nearly half an hour, batted with noble resolve as Canterbury tried for the first innings lead which seemed, at that stage, to be the only thing at stake. Bowling Triumph An hour later. Auckland was bleeding from mortal wounds, inflicted by Canterbury’s three fine fast bowlers. Bartlett, B. R. Taylor and R. C. Motz. Five were then down, for 39. N. S. Harford, balancing his talents against his obvious dislike of the short-pitched rising ball —and there were many of them—had with him a grimly resolute J. D Behrent, and they battled on for half an hour to lunch, and for 20 minutes after it before Harford turned away from a flier and played on. Canterbu-y’s dramatic progress had been achieved by really fine bowling, supported by three magnificent catches by K. Thomson. R. M. Harris had one lob up off a glove and Thomson, at short backward square leg, made ground with incredible speed and flung himself at the catch.

Thomson caught Sparling brilliantly, and then brought off the catch of a career to end A. R. Morrison’s innings. The ball, from Taylor, came off the bat with the speed of light but Thomson’s fine cricketing instinct took him to his right and an arm flung to full length brought him a magnificent success. Canterbury marched on and on. until nine were down fori 108; Auckland then led by I 142. and it seemed there i would be 178 more minutes

play, allowing for 10 minutes between innings and 20 minutes for tea. But R. I. Harford and Sutton stayed together for 31 minutes and added 21 runs which were without price. The fact that the last wicket did not fall until after 3 p.m meant the telescoping of the two intervals into one of 20 minutes—and the time saved meant everything to Canterbury. Harford batted with commendable diligence and skill; Sutton survived against all expectations, and against all the laws of batting nature. He must be numbered among the most inelegant batsmen ever to appear at Lancaster Park. He withdrew from the wicket with the alacrity of a Russian delegate at the United Nations; he put his front foot in the direction of midwicket for his off-side shots. But it was to his eternal credit that he stayed, and, indeed, made three massive hits, for 11 runs, off an outraged Motz. Auckland’s 129 was its lowest score against Canterbury for 10 years—since Canterbury last beat Auckland at Lancaster Park. The ball lifting on to the hip caused the batting break-down, but at least the batsmen had the compensation of falling to bowling of stark hostility. Fielding Best All the Canterbury pace bowlers performed far better than in the first innings. Their direction was extremely well controlled; and with the catching of so high an order, it made Canterbury’s display in the field its best for a long time.

Taylor won particular admiration, with his beautifully high delivery, his lift and movement and accuracy. But it was a strange chance which brought him on, to wreck the Auckland innings. After only three overs, Bartlett had to retire with a minor muscle injury, and Taylor replaced him. In his first four overs, he took three wickets and Canterbury was on the march. Bartlett and Motz both bowled with a fine fury, Motz doing most of the difficult bowling into the gusty northwest wind. x There was some comment among the knowledgeable about B. F. Hastings’s decision not to drop a fieldsman back behind the wicket as a run-saver at any stage of the Auckland innings. There was never a third man or deep fine leg, and with the field set so close, Auckland won many runs with mis-hits, and with good shots which defeated fieldsmen posted at close range. But Hastings was all out to attack, and if he still has a critic, he can point to Auckland’s total, and to the result.

Dust, Debris Canterbury began its second innings with the wind whistling round the sands, sending dust-clouds and debris racing across the ground, and rocking the sight-boards into a state of considerable disrepair. Something over four runs an over were needed, and the openers, Hartland and Ryan, batted with wonderful judgment and skill. They were well aware that the runs did not all have to be made at once, but they picked up everything that was available, and they both made some superb drives. Hartland had a life at 19, dropped by Behrent in the gully off Sutton, but they progressed smoothly until, at 56. Sparling bowled into a wind which had by then swung to the south, and still blew hard.

Sparling had Ryan well taken by Morrison, rather short at mid-wicket, and within minutes the batsmen were under pressure. Ryan, with this fine innings, won his spurs well. He looked very solid, but showed great power with his forcing shots. Hartland went, at 87, in strange circumstances. He was beaten by Sparling, and was stumped an appreciable time after the ball had gone into the wicket-keeper’s gloves.

First Shield Duck Sparling, flighting the ball with superb skill, and turning it quite sharply, beat Hastings too, and when Thomson, hitting to leg, was bowled off his pad for his first Plunket Shield duck, Canterbury had plummetted to 88 for four.

It became 99 for five when Gallop was caught behind, but Hadlee, with clear thinking, kept picking up a few runs, for Canterbury’s main need was to keep enough wickets in hand to launch an all-out assault in the closing stages.

Motz made some massive hits in his brief innings, and when Taylor went at 129, 35 were needed in 29 minutes with three wickets remaining. Hadlee, succumbing at last to indiscretion, went at 147, and

left the stage for Bartlett and Mclntyre. Auckland must have been deeply disappointed at finding victory so elusive. But throughout the match, and particularly in the final stages, there was a great deal to admire in Auckland’s cricket. Cunis bowled almost throughout the final innings, with the whole heart typical of him. Sutton this time was disappointing. He could not find the menacing length of the first innings, tending to over-pitch when he was not bowling harmlessly short. But Sparling was extraordinarily good, and it was a cruel fate which thrust him into the role, finally, of the lamb to the slaughter of Bartlett’s bat. For if the over costing 12 runs steered the day towards Canterbury, Sparling was within inches of winning the match for Auckland, for he had some cruel misfortunes.