Two last-ball wins in senior cricket matches

Press, 10 December 1979, Page 21

Two last-ball wins in senior cricket matches

X ictory off the last ball of a cricket match occurs much more regularly in schoolboy fiction than in fact: but there were two such thrilling finishes in the senior championship on Saturday.

With his attractive batting aga.nst Burnside-West. Peter Rat-

Lancaster Park maintained its one-point lead in the competition when Wayne Wilson had Glen Bateman (Riccarton) leg before with the final delivery of the match; and Gerald Cummins (Burnside-West) straight drove Dayle Hadlee (Uld Boys) for a single to give his side a one-wicket victory over the pennant holders, also off the last ball. So Burnside-West stayed at Lancaster Park’s elbow, and these two teams have opened a telling lead on the field in a competition designed to keep the sides in touch as long as possible. At Haglev Oval, there was even the prospect of a tie when Cummins went in, but Riccarton seldom looked likely to reach the target set by Lancaster Park. For all the excitement of the narrow finishes, it was not a day of spectacular individual performances. No bowlers had returns of five wickets or more, and there were but four half-centuries from the batsmen. Top for the day was Kevin Pitcher (East-Shirley) with 78, followed by Peter Rattray, David Dempsey, and John Mitchell. But there was the splendid achievement of Barry Hadlee in becoming the top postwar scorer and for RayJones of East-Shirley, the milestone of 1000 runs in senior cricket. Rattray finished only four short of that mark, and Peter Wallace, who played a very significant innings of for Burnside-West in the final stages, was out one run short of 3000 in championship matches. Scores.— Old Boys 161/7 dec. and 155/4 dec. lost to Bum-side-West 148/7 dec. and 169/9 by one wicket. East-Shirley 69 and 248 drew with Sydenham 1 123/6 dec. and 113/7. Lancaster Park 198/3 dec. and 239 beat Riccarton 229/7 dec. and 172 by 36 runs. Old Collegians 194/7 dec. and 145/9 dec. drew with St Albans 122/4 dec. and 164/5. There is a strange new face to senior cricket these days. There were no fewer than nine declarations in the four matches in attempts to contrive finishes. Thev were demanded by the generally slow and low scoring which is prevalent. But there was much encouragement for one of the struggling sides. EastShirley. in its fine second innings recoverv against Sydenham. Out for 69 in the first innings. EastShirley reached 248. the second best total of the season. Competition points are:— Wins Bowl Total

tray became the fourth batsman to pass 300 runs for the season. Ahead of him are Tony Collins • Lancaster Park* who leads the field with 355. followed by Lindsa% Thorn Riccarton* 315 and John Phillips <Old Collegians) 312. LAST GASP Burnside-West looked likely to win in a canter when the last hour and its 20 overs began with the side having nine wickets in hand and needing only 78 runs. But the loss of John Mitchell in the third of the 20 overs set in train a sequence of events which led to an incred-

lins and David Rathie batted soundly for an 87-run partnership, while David Dempsey stroked the ball confidently for his 60 runs. DISAPPOINTING The match at Elmwood Park was disappointing. Ken Ferries’ declaration at the overnight score left his team 72 runs behind, a bold move considering the meagre scores his batsmen have produced for him recently. But, and much more important, it gave both teams time to play for a victory that would be won on merit. If one team played better on the day it would win. Ferries was not to know’ that the balance of the first day would be continued into the second. Soon after tea it became obvious that St Albans was not going to reach its goal and it was almost as certain that Old Collegians was not going to bowl St Albans out. A merry start to the day took Old Collegians to 54 when the first, second and third wickets fell without addition. Rod Fulton and John Phillips then reproduced their efforts of the first innings and it looked as if a target of 250 might be set. Another shift in fortune resulted in the Old Collegians’ batsmen losing momentum. They returned after lunch seeking quick runs before a declaration, but they played badly and wickets, rather than runs came quickly. Nevertheless, the target set was 218 in a little over three hours and it seemed to give both sides a chance. St Albans started very carefully, but too slowly, against the medium-pacers and then foundered against the spinners. Richard Legget, who bowled his leg breaks and wrong runs very much better than his figures suggest, turned one around Rod Moore’s legs in his first over. Before Moore had his pads off, Geoff Smith had arranged to join him and before either had reached the showers, Trevor Jesty had come back to the pavilion. St Albans was in deep trouble.! It was a situation skill and resolution from the batsmen and. in Les Smith and Michael Hawke, they were very well served. Hawke played particularly well, displaying a wide range of attractive strokes and confident, quick footwork. He included two sizes in an innings which was the best of the day. Towards the end. Graeme Moore revealed that he. too. has some fine shots. But it all ended lamely. It was no-one’s fault but somehow the excellent pitch, the sunny afternoon and the beautiful ground deserved better. STRUGGLE After being in a commanding position at the end of the first day at Burwood Park, Svdenham was fighting to stave off defeat in the last hour of the game and only determined batting by lan Wilson saved the match. East-Shirley batted on in the i morning with two wickets down; in the second innings and still 16 runs behind the Sydenham's first 1 inning’s total. But a fourth-wicket partner- | ship from Kevin Pitcher and | Stephen Booth added 133 runs and ; swung the game in their side’s favour. It was a fine performance from the two young players. Pitcher battled for 222 minutes for his 78 and, although at first the situation demanded caution, he was still not afraid to hit the loose ball. He played some nice-ly-timed shots behind the wicket and was also strong on the leg. Booth was an able partner and batted sensibly and well to play a full part. The Sydenham attack lacked the edge of the first innings and the batsmen were seldom in real trouble, but dropped catches, 11 m all allowed the game to slip away. Mike Dolden was the best of the bowlers, flighting his leftarm spinners well. East was all out at 3.25 p.m. and Sydenham had 75 minutes and 20 overs to score the 195 ™ns needed. War ren Bell and Bill Thomson gave their side a good start with 50 runs in 28 minutes but wickets fell steadily' and at 5 p.m. at 93 for five the I chase was abandoned. The leg-spinner. Carl Dickel,: was East’s most potent weapon. He came on in the thirteenth over, and then bowled five overs for five runs and four wickets, and none of the batsmen plaved him confidently. Wilson was the main stumbling block for East. He stayed at the north end for an hour, survived numerous appeals, and batted with a calm assurance. He re-' ceived sound support from Greg Brown and Tony Laffery.

advancing up the pitch to even ( the quicker bowlers and he brought off some superb, beau* , tifully-timed shots in his 58. Then he went walkabout once , too often and was stumped. This was an easy victim for Bryan I Ritchie, who had had a bad t match until then. But he had another stumping to dismiss Justin Boyle, and this was swift and slick. If Mitchell set the scene for his side’s victory, the contribution of Peter Wallace was almost! as important. He had not had a productive• season, but his experience told. jHe played the perfect innings in! 'the crisis. His side had eight I overs to score 33. with five men! out and in the thirteenth over of ■ the 20 Wallace was dropped by Barry- Hadlee, a difficult outfield catch, off Gary Saunders. But David Farrant departed in that over. With five overs left, 22 were needed, and six were out. Then six came from an over by Dayle Hadlee, and when Saun- ■ ders bowled again, both Wallace and Kevin Collins took four runs. \ With two overs left, BurnsideWest needed only five runs. But: lin the nineteenth over both Wallace and Chris Kirk were out.! Dayle Hadlee bowled the last] over, with four needed for victory. Collins took a single, David Farrant one, Collins one. But ! Collins was run out off the fifth . ball, with the scores tied, and s Cummins came in to make the j most important run so far, of his . career. COLLAPSE » A bright, entertaining game of: ■ cricket at Lancaster Oval ] . brought a result off the last ball; . of the match. Riccarton, after L dismissing Lancaster Park for! 239 in the mid-afternoon, setl j about scoring the 209 runs in 115 mins and the compulsory 20 overs. . With successful bowling 1 changes, combined with the thoughtful bowling by the wily Bevan Congdon, Riccarton lost its last five wickets for four runs. Wayne Wilson, brought on for the last over of the day, delighted his team-mates by securing the final wicket with his last ball. A.fter a slow start Wayne ’ Spanjer and David Stead pulled ■ the Riccarton innings around 1 with a very sound 80-run part- • nership. However, Riccarton did 5 not reallv challenge seriously ■ until Geoff Miller, hitting the - ball powerfully, scored a very 1 quick 49 runs. Miller and Tim ) Murdoch brought up their 50-run partnership in only 32 minutes. A very fine catch on the boundary brought about Miller’s J dismissal. A feature of this * match was the very fine ground 1 fielding and catching, especially 1 by Mark Johnston for I. aster Park and Miller for 1 In the morning play, Tonv Col5 f

ible finish. In the morning, David Boyle, a ■ oung batsman of much pro-: mise, showed a fine array of | shots before Eurnside-West declared. 11 runs behind. Dayle' Hadlee 11 overs, two wickets for 11, wa s again a dominant ! figure. Hattrav and Barry Hadlee gave; Old Boys a reasonably swift • start and John Calder, hitting; three sixes, played an innings' perfectly suited to the situation.: Cran Bull’s declaration left: Burnside-West 85 minutes, and the last 20 overs, to score. 169,: but if it seemed a shade generous. it almost brought a sensational victory. John Mitchell shared ar. opening stand of 52 in 49 minutes with Brian Hastings and Mitchell’s contribution opened the wav to an easy victory. Forever eager to get at the bowlers, Mitchell put in a lot of road work

(6pt> pts Lane. Park .. 18 15 33 Burn Wc-C .. 18 14 32 Old Bovs .. 6 17 23 Old CoJi. .. 12 9 21 East-Shirley 0 15 15 Riccarton .. 0 12 12 Svdenham 0 12 12 St Albans 0 11 11