Performance against West Indies augurs well for N.Z. team

Press, 18 June 1979, Page 30

Performance against West Indies augurs well for N.Z. team

NZPA Nottingham New Zealand made a brave but vain bid to upset the cricket World Cup favourites, West Indies, in their final group match at Trent Bridge yesterday.

The West Indian batsmen did not collar the New Zealand bowling as much as expected and for a while in the New Zealand innings a shock upset was in pros pec*.

But the combination of the West Indies’ 244 for seven and the best pace attack in the world was too forbidding, although New Zealand got to 212 to iose by only 32 runs. With England beating Pakistan in the other group match at Headingly, New Zealand wHI now meet England in the semi-final on Wednesday at Old Trafford. The West Indies and Pakistan will clash at the Oval.

“When you compare the West Indies’ strength with ours, our performance was pretty gritty,” said New Zealand’s captain, Mark Burgess. “Even though a semi-final place was assured it was important for us to do well today and I think we did.” New Zealand should be stengthened for the England clash by the return of Geoff Howarth, who missed yesterday’s game because of his hamstring injury. Burgess won the toss again, and sticking to the Prudential strategy, put the West Indies into bat.

Richard Hadlee, bowling with home-crowd support, fell on to a line and length almost immediately, and had several moral victories over the opener, Desmond Haynes, beating him outside the off stump. He ultimately triumphed and in his fifth over he kept a ball low and

the umpire, Barrie Meyer, agreed with Hadlee’s emphatic appeal for lbw.

After 10 overs the West Indies were 31 and the batting was bordering on the spectacular. The crowd was sensing an explosive innings from the gifted Viv Richards when Burgess surprisingly put Coney on. His off-spin was flogged by the Indians on Wednesday and it was a bold move to offer it to a batsman of the calibre of Richards.

But the little Antiguan was not in touch yesterday and in Coney’s third over he tried a big hit over mid-wi-cket but mistimed it and Burgess held the catch.

Alvin Kallicharran and Greenidge took the score on to 117 for three before Coney’s off-breaks struck again. Greenidge was tempted to a big hit which was just not big enough and Edgar took the catch standing just inside the long-on boundary.

The West Indies at one stage looked in danger of falling below a total of 220, but with the overs ticking away, Lloyd took control. Burgess miscalculated the overs and left Hadlee one short of his quota but with the mood Lloyd was in it may not have made much difference.

New Zealand’s pursuit of the formidable total against the four-pronged pace attack began comfortably enough. But against a side whose slowest bowler is still faster than the seamers of any

other country, wickets are almost bound to fall. The first New Zealand dismissal was John Wright, who skied the first ball from Joel Garner to Lloyd at first slip. Bruce Edgar the other opener did not last much longer.

Coney and Glenn Turner settled in well and appeared to have the measure of the pace and at tea, after 25 overs, New Zealand was 88 for two and still in with a chance. But the immediate session after tea broke the New Zealand back and from then until the end of the match the West Indians had the rowdy support of the canrattling chorus in the open standsTurner mistimed a stroke and repeated Wright’s shot to sky a catch to Lloyd. While Coney in the next over ended his solid innings by driving hard into the shovel-like hands of Garner at mid-off.

Burgess and John Morrison were faced with a major reconstruction job and although Morrison was eventually out for an unsteady 11, Burgess set about the chase with aplomb.

Richard Hadlee came in after Warren Lees’ brief stay at the wicket and although New Zealand was then needing at least six runs an over, a faint chance remained.

Hadlee was taking the long handle to the Wst Indian pacemen while Burgess plugged steadily on, splitting ones and twos with an occa-

sional sweetly timed of. drive. But he went for th big hit off Roberts and wa. caught on the mid-wicke boundary by Viv Richards. New Zealand’s 200 came up in the fifty-seventh over after Hadlee was bowled by Andy Roberts for a hasty 42. At the end of 60 overs New Zealand’s score totalled 212 for nine. WEST INDIES C. G. Greenidge c Edgar b Coney 65 D. L. Haynes lbw b Hadlee 12 1, V. A. Richards c Burgess b Coney 9 A. I. Kallicharran b McKechnie 39 C. H. Lloyd iiot out .. 73 C. L. King lbw b Cairns .. 12 D. L. Murray c Coney b Chatfield 12 A. M. Roberts c Lees b Cairns 1 J. Gamer not out .. 9 Extras (b 5 Ib7> 12 Total tor seven wkts 244 Fall: 23, 61, 117, 152, 175, 202, 204. Bowling.—Coney 12, 0, 40, 2; Cairns 12, 1, 48, 2; Hadlee 11, 2, 41, 1; McKechnie 11, 0, 46, 1: Chatfield 11, 0, 45, 1; Morrison 3,0, 12, 0. NEW ZEALAND B. A. Edgar run out .. 12 J. G. Wright c Lloyd b Garner 15 J. V. Coney c Gamer b King 36 G. M. Turner e Lloyd b Roberts 20 J. 1. M. Morrison c Murray b Garner .11 M. G. Burgess c Richards b Roberts .. .. 35 W. K. Lees b Croft .. 5 R. J. Hadlee b Roberts .. 42 B. J. McKechnie not out .. 13 B. L. Cairns b Holding .. 1 E. J. Chatfield not out .. 3 Extras (lbl4, w4, nbl) .. 19 Total (nine wickets) 212 Fall: 27 . 38, 90, 91, 138, 143, 160, 199, 202. Bowling.—Roberts 12, 2. 43, 3; Holding 12, 1, 29, 1; Croft 12. 1, 38, 1: Garner 12, 0, 45, 2; King 12, 1, 38, 1.