England triumphs over Australia by 14 runs

Press, 31 January 1983, Page 30

England triumphs over Australia by 14 runs

NZPA

Adelaide

A resurrected England side pulled off the most unpredictable win of the World Series Cup when they beat Australia by 14 runs at the Adelaide Oval yesterday.

In a match that was shortened to 47 overs when Australia failed to bowl their quota of 50, England scored six for 228 to Australia's seven for 214 to snatch a vital win. England, beaten by New Zealand on Saturday, were a completely different side yesterday. It bowled and fielded superbly against-the Australians to keep their chances alive of reaching the cup final. The match see-sawed first into England's hands then into Australia's before it slipped away from the home side. The man of the match was the England vice-captain. David Gower, who top-scored with 77. As well as putting up a fine performance with the bat. Gower took two magnificent catches to dismiss Kim Hughes for four and Greg Chappell for 33. Once again it was England's middle order batsmen who saved the day after openers lan Botham and Chris Tavare went cheaply. As well as Gower's knock. Derek Randall hit 49 and Trevor Jesty made 22 in his second unbeaten stand of the week-end. Australia were never on

top of their required run rate and as the overs ticked away the task became more difficult. With two overs remaining. Australia needed 29 to win and this was always too much for tailenders Geoff Lawson and Jeff Thomson. The England captain. Bob Willis, described his team's performance in the field as a vast improvement. “If we had fielded one third as well on Saturday we would have won easily." he said. At the end of the game, the match referee. Mr Colin Egar, confirmed that Australia had been fined. $3OOO for failing to bowl its 50 overs in the alloted time. The fines are based on $6OO for the first over and $l2OO for each over after which the bowling team fails to complete. The Australian captain. Kim Hughes, said that he had decided to “cop” the fines rather than rush through the last overs and perhaps give away valuable runs. Hughes said that his side was not putting the same pressure on the batsmen in the field and was suffering with Greg Chappell as the fifth bowler. Hughes said that it was

easy for Randall and Gower to take seven or eight runs off each of Chappell's overs to establish a launching pad for a last-minute charge. Australia's problems with the bowlers have prompted the selectors to fly the West Australian spinner. Tom Hogan, to Adelaide for today's match against New Zealand. Hughes said that Hogan was likely to replace either Dennis Lillee or Kepler Wessels in the side. England's win squared the three teams on eight points on the World Series Cup table. However. New Zealand must be in the box seat with a game in hand on Australia and two in hand on England. A New Zealand win over Australia today would almost certainly give them a place in the final and make Australia's task difficult, particularly because it has the slowest run-rate of the three teams. England have a strike rate of 4.7 runs an over compared to New Zealand's 4.6 and Australia's 4.03. Latest standings in the Benson and Hedges World Series Cup:

P W L Pt N. 7438 Aust. 8 4 4 8 Eng. 9 4 5 8 ENGLAND C Tavare b Hogg. 18 I. Botham b Lawson 14 D Gower c Lillee b Thomson 77 A. Lamb b Hogg 2 I). Randall c and b Lawson 49 T Jesty not out 22 I. Gould c Lillee b Lawson 9 V. Marks not out 10 Extras (bl. Ibl4. w6. nb6) 27 Total (for 6 wickets) 228 Fall: 25. 62. 70. 176, 178. 200. Bowling: G. Lawson. 10. 0. 27. 3. D. Lillee 10. 0. 50. 0: R. Hogg 9. I. 25. 2; J. Thomson 9. 0. 38. 1; G. Chappell 7. 0. 45. 0: D. Hookes 2. O. 16. 0 AUSTRAL LA A Border c Randall b Willis. 19 J. Dyson c Lamb b Hemmings 17 K. Hughes c Gower b Marks. 4 D Hookes c Jesty b Jackman 76 R. Marsh c Jackman b Botham 7 G Chappell c Gower b Jackman 33 K Wessels b Botham . . 7 G Lawson not out . . . 28 J. Thomson not out 12 Extras (b 6. Ibs) 11 Total (for 7 wickets) 214 Fall: 27. 89. 97. 149. 161. 167. 189. Bowling. Willis 10. 1. 40. .1: Jackman 10. 3. 36. 2: Botham 7. 0. 49. 2: Hemmings 10. 0. 40. 1: Marks 10. 1. 38. 1.