Canty poised for Shell Trophy treble

Press, 9 February 1981, Page 28

Canty poised for Shell Trophy treble

By

K. T. BRITTENDEN

Any but professional punters regard the treble as the hardest question on the T.A.B. test paper, but the Canterbury cricket team has prospects of winning one today in its Shell Trophy match againt Northern Districts.

It started the game needing 20 points to collect the $lOOO divided for second place. It needed 30 runs for four batting points, and got them; it then required the maximum of four bowling points and they came, with a very late run yesterday afternoon. Now it has to win outright to obtain the remaining 12 points. So far Canterbury (311 for eight wickets and 156 for three wickets) leads Northern (270) by 197, but the home team will need quick runs this morning if it is to have time to attempt victory. It will be mindful of the length of the Northern batting, and its aggressive qualities. Already the game has produced some strange contradictions. The pitch, almost on the eastern extremity of the block, has had the low bounce which makes stroke production difficult, except when the ball still has a strong seam. Yet the scoring has been quite high, the striking rate more than satisfactory, and 'that has been because there has been, enough loose bowling by both sides to keep the runs coming fairly freely.

At the start of all three Innings, the 'runs came rapidly, but thereafter the batsmen have had to work diligently for a basic diet of

runs, with the bowlers providing the fattening at regular intervals. There have been two typically swashbuckling innings by David Dempsey—in total 76 runs from 74 deliveries—a useful little double by Vaughan Brown, a lively and attractive 61 not out by Bryan Ritchie and a partnership of 150 between Roger Broughton (70) and Andy Roberts (95) as the batting highlights.

The bowling successes were those of the Canterbury leg-spinners, David Stead and\ Richard Leggat. Both had slow but quite appreciable turn, and while Roberts and Broughton were together there seemed no difficulty in playing the ball easily off the pitch if length or flight had effected an early misapprehension. But after lunch the Northern batsmen floundered badly: from 206 for two the innings declined to its demise at 270. The last six fell for 36 in . under . an hour. In the morning the leg-spinners had 19 overs and took none for 51. After lunch their combined return was 27 overs, eight for 74. Northern has had a hard row to hoe. Its seam attack was badly weakened by the late withdrawal through injury of Stuart Gillespie and

yesterday the left-arm spinner, Cliff Dickeson — the very hub of the attack — had to leave the field because of an Achilles heel injury. He hopes to bowl this morning. Play did not start until midday on Saturday because the Canterbury team’s flight from Auckland was delayed. There was no hint of jet lag about Dempsey and Barry Hadlee when they took 35 from the first five overs. Dempsey played some glorious shots and Hadlee, if less flamboyant, drove with typical poise and polish. They put on 74 in an hour. Dickeson, not a model for a left-hander with his low bowling arm, was as effective as usual. He did not try to flight or turn the ball often, but pushed it through fairly flat in the line of the leg stump. He put a curb on the scoring rate set up the openers and a very in-form Vaughan Brown, who again played many magnificent drives. Each batsman made a start, and there was a stand of 49 between Stead and Cran Bull, but by that time Canterbury was struggling against Dickeson and the off-spin of Chris Kuggeleijn, who often seemed as hard to read as his name.

Canterbury’s target of 300 from 100 overs was becoming distant until Ritchie and Leggat took charge. Leggat is as quick of mind as of foot, and the running between the wickets put telling pressure on fielding which for most of the innings had been brilliant. Ritchie, a swift and fluent driver, was in top form. Together they made 81 in 65 minutes of delightful batting. Northern may be a little

tired of Ritchie by now. He has played against the northerners only twice before but now, in five innings against , them, has a tally of 208 runs for one dismissal. Northern made a brisk start on Saturday evening, but yesterday the aggressive Mike Wright went at 55, Grant Gibson at 56. This was in a very good and penetrating spell of seam bowling from Glenn Bateman. Roberts and Broughton, however, batted with such skill and confidence that by lunch Canterbury’s chances of getting the nine wickets needed seemed utterly remote. They never hurried, but made calm, orderly progress. Roberts, having a most successful season, made relaxed and lovely strokes. Broughton, extremely confident, provided an almost disdainful dismissal of the bad ball.

Canterbury’s subsequent success belonged as much to Bull as to the bowlers. He had to use his spinners, risking a first-innings deficit in his gamble to keep the batsmen making shots, so he would have a Chance of picking up the wickets in 1

the remaining overs — there were only 37 left after lunch. He was brilliantly successful,. Broughton was caught at cover, Barry Cooper — disappointingly — out before scoring, Kuggeleijn taken on the boundary, David White magnificently caught and bowled by Leggat, Bill Fowler leg before.

Then Roberts was taken at the wicket, cutting only five short of a century he deserved to have, and Canterbury went through to a quite unexpected lead of 41.

Late in the afternoon there was a blaze of strokes from Dempsey who made 23 of his 27 in scoring from seven consecutive deliveries, more good blows from Brown, and an unbroken stand of 52 between Latham and Stead. Latham, a little lucky now and then, drove with tremendous power but both batsmen were slowed at this vital stage by the persistence of Cooper at medium pace, and Kuggeleijn. So the stage is set for a splendid last act in the Shell series. Either side could take the curtain call. CANTERBURY First innings D. A. Dempsey b Dickeson 49 B. G. Hadlee b Dickeson .. 44 V. R. Brown b Dickson ... 47 R. T. Latham c Broughton b White 11 D. W. Stead c Broughton b Kuggeleijn 28 C. L. Bull c Gibson b Kuggeleijn 22 B. D. Ritchie not out 61 R. I. Leggat c Fowler b Scott 32 C. H. Thiele b Scott 2 Extras (b 4, lb 7, nb 4) 15 Total (for eight wickets) 311 Fall: 74, 129, 162, 162, 211, 220. 301,311. , „„ Bowling.—S. J. Scott, 20, 1, 78, 2; R. J. Griffiths, 9,1, 42, 0; A. D. G. Roberts, 7,1, 21, 0; C. W. Dickeson, 40, 13, 90, 3; D. J. White, 7,0, 28, 1; C. M. Kuggeleijn, 14, 5, 33, 2; W. P. Fowler, Second Innings Hadlee b Cooper 13 Dempsey c Gibson b Cooper 27 Brown c Cooper b White .. 34 Latham not out .; 55 Stead not out 12 Extras (b 12, w 1) 13 Total (for three wickets) 154 Fall: 35, 57, 104. 1 Bowling-Scott, 12, 3, 32, 0; Griffiths, 9,3, 26, 0; Cooper, 14, , 3, 42, 2; Dickeson, 2,1, 10, 0; ' White, 9,3, 26, 1; Kuggeleijn, 6, 4,5, 0. ( NORTHERN DISTRICTS First innings J. G. Gibson c Mackie b Bateman ...; ... 19 M. J. Wright b Bateman .. 32 ) R. D. Broughton c Brown b Stead 70 1 A. D. G. Roberts e Mackie b Leggat 95 B. G. Cooper lbw b Stead 0 C. M. Kuggeleieln c Dempsey b Stead 14 D. J. White c and b Leggat ... 10 ' W. P. Fowler lbw b Leggat 0 5, J. Scott std Mackie b Stead 4 ' C. W. Dickeson not out .. 6 . R. J. Griffiths b Stead .... 0 ( Extra* (b 10, lb 9, w 1) 20 Total 270 Fall: 55, 56, 206, 210, 234, 249, i 249, 264, 266. Bowling.—C. H. Thiele 12, 3, 1 37, 0; G. C. Bateman. 14, 5, 29, 2; i R. I. Leggat, 24, 7, 60, 3; D. W. f Stead, 29.5, 3, 86, 5; V. R. Brown i 12, 4, 29, 0; R. T. Latham, 2,0, 9, 1 0. ■ ' ! Performance points: Northern j Districts 6 (batting 3, bowling 3). . Canterbury 8 (batting 4, bowling ’