Canterbury, Wgtn well placed in women’s cricket

Press, 27 December 1979, Page 26

Canterbury, Wgtn well placed in women’s cricket

By

JOHN COFFEY

Canterbury and Wellington, the two provinces which have shared the Hallyburton-Johnstone Shield for the last six summers, will not willingly relinquish their positions of prominence in New Zealand women’s cricket.

Both teams dominated their fixtures when the 1979ho naticna! tournament began at Porritt Park yes ter-, day. Wellington, the most prolific reaper of perform-' a nee points, has Otago bend-; ing the knee, while Canter-; bury, on an adjacent pitch.: is well on the way to a win over Centra! Districts. Outstanding all-round contributions by Jackie Lord and Barbara Bevege and a typically sound innings byj Pat McKelvey for Welling-' ton left Otago with only the hone that the cool,. windy and overcast conditions: might attract some rain to dampen not only Wellington's aspirations but also the, parched park surface. A fast outfield and a posi-t tive attitude enabled Wel-| lington to reach 228 for four; — a total worth four batting! points — just before the limit of 70 overs. Otago had earlier been; dismissed for just 57 runs,; with Lord (three for seven! from 50 deliveries) and De-j nise Atterton (three for, three from six overs) top-j ping some startling bowling figures. In contrast to Otago’s! struggles. Bevege opened • Wellington's innings with, obvious assurance and she ensured that the margin between the sides' respective! first innings would be quite, decisive. McKelvey steadily! compiled runs in her stay of mc'.e than two hones, but it; was Lord who broke the back of the Otago resistance. j Lord was in for only 47 minutes. In that com-' paratively brief appearance she plundered 10 boundaries, 53 runs in all, and her fifth-!

wicket partnership with McKelvey was worth 81 runs. Although Lord had I given her captain about 80 minutes start, they reached ‘their half-centuries almost simultaneously. I It will be a long and bitter struggle if Otago is to save the match. Four wickets have been lost in its second innings, all to Bevege. and it still trails by 138 runs. Lona Richards, one of the openers, has fought a brave rearguard action, being unbeaten on 18. The young Central Districts team was given a formidable task in its tournament debut, being matched against the title-holder, ' Canterbury. It was encourjaged when Linda Fraser rei moved Lesley Sitankland and •Ann McKenna within one lover and she later claimed ' the wickets of two other , international players. But the youthful Debbie ■ Hockley and the seasonsed Jenny Olson enabled Canterbury to clear its troubled •waters with a third-wicket i partnership of 84. Hockley ' was still there at the finish, 56 not out. and displayed a maturity beyond her years. _ j Central will no doubt gain confidence from experience, but its batting faltered yesterday and. after following on. it has so far lost 14 I wickets for 87 runs and (needs another 65 to require [Canterbury to bat again. I An unbroken partnership 1 of 58 runs for the fourth , wicket by Kay Simon and Heather Shale saved Aucki land from embarrassment against its neighbour. North Shore. But Auckland needs 68 more runs to get back on even terms and only nine

overs are left before its innings is compulsorily closed. Points earned so far (with Auckland and North Shore having the chance to add to I their tallies) are Wellington ;7. Canterbury 4, Central 2, Auckland 2, Otago 1, North •Shore 1. ; Scores.— • Canterbury 152/7 (D. Hockley 56 not out, J. Olson 42; L. Fraser 4/40) met Cenitral Districts 50 (S. Brown ■4/16, S. Rattray 3/16, P. ■ Carrick 2/14) and 37/4 (CarIrick 2/0). I North Shore 172/6 (E. •Miller 56, E. Weber 36. K. Plummer 21) met Auckland 104/4 (K. Simon 40 not out, [FI. Shale 34 not out). Otago 57 (J. Lord 3/7, D. Atterton 3/3, B. Bevege 2/8, |C. Wylds 2/15) and 33/4 •(Bevege 4/10) met Wellington 228/4 (Bevege 57, Lord 153 not out, P. McKelvey 50 not out, C. Henshihvood 31).