Australians contained

Press, 23 February 1977, Page 40

Australians contained

The New Zealanders then applied themselves, just as 'diligently, to the task of I containing the Australian j batsmen. lan Davis and Alan Turner were doubtless eager Ito score, but they were not ’prepared to take undue risks, and in an hour and a 'quarter, they made only 37 'before they were separated. I Some varied items contributed towards New Zealand’s success in slowing ■Australia down. There were,

! naturally, defensive fields. But the team found support [from other quarters. There jwas a delay while a gardening implement was produced to dig up and relay isome dangerously deep footholes. There was a brief inspection of the shape of the (ball — two or three others I had lost their lines earlier in 'the match. And there was a | large dog of indeterminable ancestry which galloped (about, on two occasions, [with a friskiness at odds

[with the tensions of a test match. In 45 minutes, only seven; overs were bowled, for 10! runs off the bat. But mainly, the slow scoring was to the credit of some very good and accurate bowling from Richard and Dayle Hadlee land Chatfield.

At tea, it was 67 for one, with the pitch’s only real problem the tendency for the ball to keep low, now and then. Straight away, Davis was

caught behind. One run later, Greg Chappell tried to sweep Hedley Howarth and was easily taken from a top edge. At 82, Gary Cosier essayed an absurd second run. Dayle Hadlee’s return was fast, but wide. Warren

Lees, the wicket-keeper, did very well indeed to gather in the ball and bring off a dive into the stumps which just beat Cosier’s equally frantic dive for the crease. That was the last New

Zealand success. Doug Walters batted quietly, not always safely, as Rick McCosker, after an almost anonymous start, produced a

| succession of fierce drives land cuts, which took him to |77 in under two hours and a half.

The declaration gave New Zealand half an hour to bat in light which was certainly playable, but not encouraging. Even less encouraging was Lillee. Most of those in the stand would rather have gone to meet an undernourished Bengal tiger than [this other tiger, Lillee. The pressure on Turner and Geoffrey Howarth was extreme; Lillee worked up to violent speed, and again made regular use of the short-pitched flier, Turner swayed delicately away, and before the day was done Howarth had on-driven Walker handsomely for four to reduce the deficit to 337.

New Zealand has already done enough to make its mark on this match, even if the near-impossible is not achieved ‘oday. The Australians are talented, determined, eager for victory. But this New Zealand team, whatever its deficiencies, contains no quitters.

NEW ZEALAND First innings Resuming at 324/8 Runs Balls Mlns 4s H. J. Howarth b Walker 61 151 165 / D. R. Hadlee not out 37 119 151 4 E. J. Chatfield b Lillee 5 29 36 1 Extras (Ib9, w2, nb!2) 23 Total 357 Fall of wicket: 338 (Howarth). Bowling 0 M R w D. K. Lillee , 31.2 6 119 2 G. J. Gilmour 10 0 48 c M. H. N. Walker 26 7 66 3 K. J. O'Keeffe 28 5 101 5 Second innings Runs Balls Mlns 43 G. P. Howarth not out 5 19 34 1 G. M. Turner not out 4 30 34 ( Extras (Ib2, nbl) 3 Total for no wicket 12 Bowling D. K. Lillee 0 M R w 3 0 4 0 M. H. N. Walker 3 1 5 c AUSTRALIA First innings 551 Second innings . • 1 Runs Balls A. Turner lbw b D. Hadlee 20 45 72 3 1. C. Davis c Lees b R. Hadlee 22 91 111 0 R. B. MeCosker not out 77 128 147 G. Chappell c Parker b H. Howarth 0 10 7 0 G. Cosier run out 2 11 18 0 K. D. Walters not out 20 62 77 0 Extras (blO, nb3) 13 Total for 4 wickets dec. 154 Fall of wickets: 37 (Turner), 67 (Davis), (Cosier). 68 (Chappell), 82 Bowling R. J. Hadlee 0 13 M 4 R 41 w E. J. Chatfield 11 1 34 0. R. Hadlee 8 0 28 B. E. Congdon 1 o H. J. Howarth 10 0 37 1