Prize wickets lost by New Zealand

Press, 18 August 1978, Page 20

Prize wickets lost by New Zealand

- Leicester Two highly. unfortunate dismissals led to a New Zealand decline on the second day of the match with Young England at Grace Road early this morning (N.Z. time). After an hour and a half the score had been reduced from 60 for none to 100 for three. At lunch New Zealand was 126 for three, with Congdon 18 and Parker 13. Robert Anderson and John Wright batted comfortably as the second day started and’ brought up the 50 in even time. Wright square-drove Jarvis nicely for another boundary and reached the twenties when he worked one to mid-wicket for three. But he lost his wicket to Graham Stevenson. The ball was short, and Wright went back' to hammer it off the back foot but managed only to drop it to his feet, from where it roiled on to the stumps. Geoff Howarth began quietly but Anderson broke his impasse with Phil Carrick by wafting him away to the mid-wicket boundary. At 94 Anderson lost his wicket in a highly unfortunate manner. Howarth straight-drove Carrick, the bowler misfielded and the ball deflected on to the stumps, with Anderson out of his grounds. With only a single added, Howarth was also out, caught behind off John Emburey and a golden chance had been lost. John Parker and Bevan Congdon came together with the task of rebuilding an

! innings which had promised : much. 1 An outstanding fifth-wick- ■ et partnership between ! r David Gower, the Bjorn . > Borg of English cricket, and j the former test player, Mike . Gatting, saved Young Eng- . land from embarrassment on , the first day of the match j with New Zealand. Gower, who scored a de- > lightful century, and Gatting, I who made an aggressive 88, t took their side from a shaky : j 83 for four to 240 for five r and their stand of 157 lasted i only 141 min. - It had been a dream of a week for Gatting. He made ! i his first-class debut in 1975 ■ but had not scored a century ■ until last Friday. He had an- > other in his next innings and yesterday nearly made : 5 it three in a row. Gower took 185 min to 1 i reach his century, and bat- : ted another half hour before I i he was magnificently caught ■ : on the leg side by the wick- : et-keeper, Bruce Edgar. He gave one sharp chance, to . Edgar off John Mclntyre, : when he was 51. Otherwise it was supremely skilful and entertaining batting. Richard Hadlee, wisely used in shorter spells than ’ recently, always looked j sharp and he had four wick- i

ets, three of them to catches by Edgar. Richard Collinge, trying hard to regain a test place, looked rather innocuous in his opening spell upwind, but beat Gatting several times in a lively second stint from the other end. Edgar did well to hold four catches, one of them a beauty. But he missed that sharp chance off Mclntyre and again had some trouble keeping to Congdon. He probably took a step towards test selection as a wicket-keeper, but perhaps not a decisive one. The first-day scoreboard.— YOUNG ENGLAND First Innings C. W. Athey c Edgar b Thomson 12 W. Larkins c Edgar b Hadlee 4 C. J. Tavare c Edgar b Hadlee 19 D. I. Gower a Edgar b Hadlee 108 K. Sharp lbw b Collinge .. 14 M. W. Gatting c Hadlee b Congdon 88 P. Carrick b Hadlee .. .. 0 J. E. Emburey not out .. 5 G. B. Stevenson c Parker b Congdon 10 Extras (b 7 lb 4, nbl> .. 12 Total (8 wckts dec.) 272 Fall: 4, 34, 69, 83, 240, 244, 262, 272. Did not bat: P. R. Downton, K. B. S. Jarvis. Bowling.—Hadlee, 17, 5, 40, 4; Collinge, 18, 3. 70, 1; Thomson, 15, 3, 52, 1; Congdon, 26.4, 8, 61, 2j Mclntyre, 9,1, 37, 0. NEW ZEALAND First innings J. G. Wright not out ~ 5 K. W. Anderson not out .. 16 Extras (w2, nb2) .. .. 4 Total (for no wicket) 25 To bat: G. P. Howarth, J. M. Parker, B. E. Congdon. B. A. Edgar, G. N. Edwards, R. J. Hadlee, J. M. Mclntyre, R. Collinge, G. B. Thomson.

fl From R.Tijrittenden On tour for the N.Z.PA.