N.Z. batsmen wilt before in-form Aust. seamers

Press, 26 February 1977, Page 56

N.Z. batsmen wilt before in-form Aust. seamers

From R. T. BRITTENDEN

Auckland

Three stout-hearted stands by the New Zealanders were not sufficient to prevent Australia taking charge when the second cricket test began on a lively Eden Park pitch yesterday. At the close of a gripping day’s play, New Zealand had scored 229, the innings ending just too late for the Australians to begin.

Greg Chappell won the; toss, and he must fee! verysatisfied with his team’s effort, even if catches were: dropped again. His fast: bowlers had everything in' their favour before lunch,: and a lot going for them, right through the afternoon. I There may be some life; left today, but New Zealand! has a long uphill fight if it. is to get back into the game, i

It needed at least another 50 runs in its first innings, for Australia now has a, very good opportunity ofi building up a substantia'! lead. New Zealand opted fori a five-man bowling com-.’ bination, including both its! spinners, and that arrange-, ment, if it is to succeed,! must have Australia needing, a reasonably solid score in! the fourth innings, late in * the match. The home team survived the first period of piay. the most dangerous one. none! too badly. Two wickets werej down for 66 at lunch. There, was a healthy look about' the situation when 100 was, left behind, still with only two down. Then three wick-1 ets fell in a heap to a deter-J mined and hostile, attack J But there v s a man of| spirit to match the panache!, of the Australians. Jock Ed-', wards, in his second test-i match, blazed his way to al

half-century in 54 minutes i and 45 deliveries, and there was hardly a false shot in; his exhilarating display. | In the early stages,: Geoffrey Howarth played; with admirable skill in mak-l ing 59, his best test score so far, and there was a fine 1 effort by Richard Hadlee,! who was last out, for 44. The day belonged to the: Australians, however. Lillee* often bowled at furious i sneed and he finished with; five wickets. Although he did not have such rich rewards. Max Walker was just as dominant a figure. ‘ Not more than half the 60; runs he yielded came from; truly-hit strokes, and he hadj catches dropped. New Zealand made, ai depressing start, but Glenn; Turner was beaten by a ball[| from Walker which would; have defeated any man born; of woman. So Congdon came in to* feel the full heat of the Aus-| tralian attack: but he was, never the man to get out of! the kitchen. He battled some' extremely fine bowling by I Walker for an hour and a; half and if he gave sharp! chances at 2 off Walker and* at 18 off Gilmour, it was another example of the cool!, courage Congdon brings to 1 the big occasion. ' Walker, in his opening 1

jspell, bowled like a dream,: • lor a nightmare, according to! [one’s affiliations. With his; {lively pace he was able to •get the ball up round the I ribs consistently, his in- ; swinger moved wickedly late, and he varied this with • a demanding outswinger. j Lillee looked far more like Ithe demon king than he did at Christchurch, where he ; seemed at times to be more • interested in the rest of the j Pantomime than his particujlar part. This was the real | Lillee, whose very run-up, - iswift and menacing, held an ; air of urgency which must (have been communicated to: 1 Ithe batsmen. He was some-i times of vivid pace, and he; [ did not, on this pitch, blow; I off valuable steam with! ! bouncers.

I He did not bow! his first lone until the game was three hours old.

This was very much a seamers’ pitch, but until tea tl.j Australians’ third-string pace bowler, Gary Gilmour, need hardly have been on the field: he again bowled badly, and was banished after four overs, this threw an unexpected burden on Greg Chappell and Doug Walters. Chappell bowled very tightly with six overs for seven runs, until Geoff Howarth got on top of him. Walters, who had not bowled in a first-class match on tour, and whose basic training methods are so unorthodox, picked up the very valuable wicket of Mark Burgess, but then was crunched beneath the hammer of Edwards’ bat.