West v. East cricket final

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32846, 21 February 1972, Page 24

West v. East cricket final

West Cliristchurch-University and East Christchurch-Shirley yesterday reached the final of' the A.N.Z. Bank knock-out cricket tournament when they beat Riccarton and Ashburton, respectively.

There was much excitement in the closing stages of the fixture at Ashburton, East - Shirley’s winning runs being scored in the final over. Chasing Ashburton’s moderate total of 167, East seemed well placed when, after 20 overs, it was 86 for two. P. G. Coman had twice taken 12 off an over and was in commanding form; his partner, G. D. V, Pulley, was equally assured. STEADY BOWLING At 98, Pulley was dismissed and the batsmen became pinned down by the steady medium-pace bowling of B. White and P. E. Wallace. Runs came slowly but East still seemed to have the game well in hand until Wallace’s final dramatic over, the 34th of the match, when he dismissed both Coman and N. M. Pitches. Coman made an aggressive 76,. although he gave three chances.

The pressure was on the remaining East batsmen, to such an extent that 24 runs were needed off the final four overs. Batsmen sacrificed their wickets and with two overs remaining 18 runs were needed and the last pair were at the wicket.

This situation brought out the best in East’s No. 9 bats!man, E. Parsons. Playing [correctly and forcibly, he took 13 runs off the 39th. retained the strike, and off B. V. Sampson’s second ball [scored a single. His partner. [R. P. M. Howell, did likewise [from the next ball, Parsons added two more from the [fourth and the scores were tied at 167. SAMPSON INJURED Then there was further drama. The game was halted as Sampson hurt his bowling hand and players clustered round him for several minutes. However, this did not deter Parsons and he tucked the fifth delivery neatly through mid-wicket for the winning run. Ashburton lost its first two wickets for 12 runs, including its prolific scorer, Wallace. for a duck, but recovered to make 167, mainly through the hard hitting of , its middle order batsmen.

After being put in a matchwinning position, the Riccarton batsmen failed badly in the match against. West Christchurch at Hagley Oval. West’s innings was one of mixed fortunes. M. A. Fisher and A. R. G. Byrne figured in a bright 48-run partnership for the third wicket, and at three for 85 from 21 overs, a substantial total seemed assured. Then the scoring rate slowed as wickets fell and only 32 runs were added in the last 10 overs.

Riccarton seemed to have the game in its grasp, needing a scoring rate of a little over three an over. However, ill-judged running and poor stroke-making put the total beyond its reach. P. G. D’Auvergne played a bright innings but found little support.

East-Shirley 169/9 (Coman 76: Sampson 2/33. W. J. Bell 3/41, Wallace 2/21) beat Ashburton 167 (I. D. P. Hamilton 39, Sampson 30, Bell 28, R. Jenkins 23. D. J. Isherwood 20; R. P. M. Howell 2/42 Pulley 2/28. T. R. Marshall 2/8)

West Christchurch-University 140/9 (Fisher 40, Byrne 22, M. A. Calder 20: J. W. Kiddey 2/23, K. Teremia 2/35, P. W. Hammant 2/40) beat Riccarton 115 (D’Auvergne 42; C. M. Kirk 3/38, Al. Roberts 2/21. D. C. Saunders 2/34).