Carew delayed too long, let N.Z. off hook

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32860, 8 March 1972, Page 30

Carew delayed too long, let N.Z. off hook

(From D. ]. CAMERON. N.ZP.A. special correspondent)

POINTE-A-PIERRE.

M. C. Carew, the Trinidad captain, is a friendly, genial man, and the New Zealand cricketers probably regard him as even more of a friendly fellow after he let them off the hook on the last day of the drawn match at Guracara Park yesterday.

After all kinds of manoeuvrings early in the day, Carew somehow found himself declaring at 147 for seven in Trinidad’s second innings, and thus leaving New Zealand the impossible task of scoring 303 runs in 190 minutes to win the match.

Needless to say, New Zealand did not take the bait of attacking recklessly against Carew’s quiver of spinners, and at stumps, B. E. Congdon, with 42 not out, had

shepherded the New Zealanders through to 120 for .three in 160 minutes. Within 22 minutes of the start yesterday. New Zealand, 307 for nine overnight, and 18 short of avoiding the follow-on, lost the last wicket at 319. J. C. Alabaster was out after his stout-hearted innings worth 48 runs, and even more significantly, taking up 90 very valuable minutes, the last 45 with the lame G. M. Turner. With runs in hand, Carew

could have enforced the follow-on and tightened the web that Inshan Ali and the other spinners had woven around the New Zealand batsmen.

Instead, Carew chose to bat again and the New Zealandeis breathed a sigh of relief; they had saved the indignity of following on and might even have a chance of winning the match against the clock.

In his typically forthright way, Carew thrashed away at the New Zealand bowlers, very nearly pinning R. S. Cunis with a lusty straight drive off the first ball of the innings and then hitting him superbly through cover for four off the fourth. This was good, red-blooded batting, although Cunis did not think so when Carew cheerfully pulled him for six.

B. R. Taylor brought some relief by bowling O. Durity, and after he had scored 30 out of 37, Carew was magnificently caught by H. J. Howarth at mid-off, Howarth damaging his right shoulder

as he dived across and forward for the one-handed catch. The fireworks continued from C. Davis, who drove like fury before getting an edge to Cunis which was taken at slip by Congdon. B. Julien hit Taylor over the grandstand and was then caught by B. F. Hastings from an agricultural swipe. By lunch, Trinidad was 98 for five, with a lead of 253 and a minimum of 240 minutes remaining. Carew might have declared then, leaving New Zealand a chase of a little more than three runs an over.

New Zealand could have done nothing else but attempt the chase at least for two hours, and with the risk that Carew’s spinners might have given them a lot of bother. Instead, Carew batted on and on, using up another 40 minutes before closing at 147 for seven. So, New Zealand was set a target of about five runs an over and could be forgiven for not making a serious attempt at such a chase.