Wicket win to Otago

Press, 26 November 1979, Page 34

Wicket win to Otago

By R. T. BRITTENDEN Canterbury cricket has known some dizzy changes of fortune, but there have not been many more remarkable days in its long history than when it lost by one wicket to Otago in the Shell Cup knock-out contest yesterday.

Twice on the brink of overwhelming defeat, Canterbury turned its rags to riches spectacularly and its recoveries took the game its full course. The figures really told an exciting story. After lOOmin Canterbury was 30 for seven wickets but reached 113. In the first llOmin of its innings Otago made 87 for one. But eight wickets fell while 26 were added and with the scores tied, the Otago captain, Warren Lees, found himself in the sort of situation only cricket could contrive.

He faced Dayle Hadlee at the start of the forty-ninth over with the scores level. Canterbury had batted 48.5 overs and there were two ways for Lees to win the game. If he thought it expedient, he could have thrown his wicket away — within the first four balls of the over — and Otago would have won with its minutely faster scoring rate. Or he could score the single needed.

He chose the latter course, but it was ironical that it came from mis-fielding, when Canterbury had given a brilliant display in the air and on the ground. For all the excitement of the finish, Otago deserved its victory. Even when the wickets began to tumble, it appeared to have the game firmly in its keeping until the last few minutes when it seemed Canterbury might achieve a minor miracle.

Otago’s fine seam and spin bowling wrecked the Canterbury innings and there was some magnificent catching. It seemed for a long time that everything about the match, in its setting and amenities, was as near perfect as mere man might hope for, except for the one-sided nature of the contest.

David Dempsey was yorked, first ball of the match, Geoff. Smith was an unlucky victim of a strange run-out, and then Stuart McCullum took a fine catch to dismiss Trevor Hesty, a quite incredible one next ball, to get rid of Paul McEwan. The ball from Peter Hills lifted nastily, lobbed off McEwan’s bat and McCullum made ground superbly to take the catch in an athletic forward dive.

The Otago seamers got some awkward bounce and movement, and they had Canterbury properly in the toils. Yet one from Boock kept wickedly low to defeat Cran Bull. After 30 of the maximum of 50 overs, Canterbury was a wretched 35 for seven. The sorry scoreboard emphasised the quality of the recovery made by Vaughan Brown and Bryan Ritchie. The left handers put on 62 in 57 minutes with batting (of genuine quality. 1 Ritchie’s contribution was

particularly commendable, for all was disaster when he s came in to play his first ® major match for Canterbury. ® His driving and cutting '' matched his temperament. ’ Earlier, Lindsay Thorn had V given the batting some sanitty' Boock, turning the ball apf preciably, started with five 1 maidens and he made a ’ major contribution to I Otago’s demanding advance. * So did Graeme Thomson 1 and Geoff Osborne. ’ It seemed likely to be an ■ early finish when Glenn . Turner and McCullum scored ’ 30 for the first wicket in . eight overs, followed by lan I Rutherford and Turner adI ding 57. At the 25-Over j mark, Otago was 72 for one. , Turner gave an absolutely ' delightful display. He played 1 a few one-day shots but [ they were simply Rabelaisian asides in a masterly speech. Turner is both scholarly and entertaining. There was some magnificent driving in his innings of 58. He was chiefly responsible for putting Otago in an almost impregnable position, being the major aggressor as Jesty’s first four overs cost 18, Dayie Hadlee’s first i five yielding 24. This was a flow of runs Canterbury : simply could not afford. The first real Canterbury 1 resistance came from David j Stead, who bowled his legbreaks so effectively that his < 10 overs cost only 16. But Glen Bateman, who also < bowled well, started his sec- s ond spell by having Turner caught Off a tired-looking shot and Otago crumpled. Rutherford ran himself out : after a solid innings of 105 i minutes, McEwan, and j

Brown took superb catches to speed the decline. In this tense last period Hadlee and McEwan bowled with fire and purpose; Hadlee’s second spell of 26 balls brought him five wickets for nine runs, and McEwan also did a tremendous job. It was a magnificent finish to a great contest, fought out in the best possible spirit. CANTERBURY D. A. Dempsey b Cairns .. 0 G. B. Smith run out 2 L. D. A. Thorn c Rutherford b Thomson . 16 T. E. Jesty c McCullum b Hills . 5 P. E. McEwan c McCullum b Hills 0 C. L. Bull b Boock 4 D. W. Stead c Thomson b Osborne 1 V. Brown c Rutherford b Thomson 32 B. D. Ritchie c Turner b Thomson 34 D. R. Hadlee c Rutherford b Osborne .8 G. C. Bateman not out .. 0 Extras (b2, lb 4, nbs) .. 11 Total .113 Bowling.—B. L. Cairns 10, 4, 38, 1; P. R. Hills 10. 1, 24, 2; G. B. Thomson 9.5, 4, 12, 3; S. L. Boock 10, 6,9, 1; G. Osborne 9,3, 19, 2. OTAGO G. M. Turner c Ritchie b Bateman 56 S. J. McCullum c Ritchie b Bateman 16 1. A. Rutherford run out 23 W. L. Blair c Jesty b Bateman 2 B. Blair c McEwan b Hadlee 0 W. K. Lees not out 7 B. L. Cairns c Brown b Hadlee $ G. Osborne c Brown b Hadlee o R. Hills lbw b Hadlee 0 j. B. Thomson b McEwan 0 5, L. Boock not out (J Extras (Ibl, nbl) 2 Total for 9 wkts . 114 Bowling.—G. C. Bateman 10, 3, !1, 3; T. E. Jesty 10, 1, 30, 0; ). W. Stead 10, 3, 16. 0: D. R. iadlee 9.2, 1, 33, 4; P. E. Me iwan 9,3, 12, 1.