Rain snuffs out any hope of N.Z. victory

Press, 10 February 1983, Page 30

Rain snuffs out any hope of N.Z. victory

NZPA staff correspondent Sydney Rain dampened the tempo and fire of the first World Series Cup cricket final at the Sydney Cricket Ground last night but, in a match won by Australia by six wickets, some of the expected heat of the battle still arose.

While the thrill of the cricket became mired in the statistical blather and red tape, on-field confrontations between players continued and the ill feeling of the preliminary rounds, if not the calbire of play, was maintained. New Zealand had batted first, reaching 193 for seven in a muddled, unmotivated performance. Australia in reply exceeded a target total with six wickets to spare but in mildly unsatisfactory circumstances.

A target total, rather than the target total was the operative term. Chasing 194 for victory when its innings began, Australia were helped by the intervention of rain which stopped play for 20 minutes and in a statistical nightmare revised the entire match. It was 17 for one when heavy rain began falling at 9.02 ' p.m. (N.Z. time) and when the players returned it was with the stipulation from the tournament referee that Australia’s innings would be of 38 rather than 49 overs and its target for victory should be 150. World Series Cup regulations emphasise that if play is stopped, even for a minute, by rain, ten overs are immediately lost.

The time available between the resumption of play and the scheduled stumps time is calculated and the overs available to the batting side are designated at the rate of 12 per hour. In last night’s case 170 minutes remained between the 9.25 p.m. resumption and the scheduled close at 10.15 p.m. The tournament umpire, Alan Crompton, ruled that would allow 38 overs to be bowled and he amended the Australian innings on that basis.

Mr Crompton defended the basis of the championship rules, but he admitted later that the rate of 12 overs per hour “might be too conservative.”

He altered their victory target by calculating the scoring rate of the New Zealanders (3.52 runs per over), multiplying that by the number of overs available to Australia and declaring that they needed to surpass only 150.

They did so without difficulty, led by their captain. Kim Hughes, who overcame a personal run-drought to silence a vociferous legion of critics.

The Australians had six wickets and 22 balls in hand at the close.

The ease of their victory, however, lent considerable credence to the theory that New Zealand without its allrounder, Richard Hadlee, is as a cannon without ammunition.

Although its bowlers continued to toil earnestly and the captain. Geoff Howarth, again produced inspired field placements, it lacked the necessary fire power to uproot the Australians and avoid an early series deficit. On to Melbourne for Sunday’s final it faces what Howarth later described as a “do-or-die task” of saving the series.

“After tonight it’s obvious what we have to do,” he said. “We’re going to be all out to do it.

“We were stymied by the rain tonight because whenever overs are lost like they were the side batting second is at an advantage. “That was the case tonight. When I won the toss and elected to bat. I did it on the strength of a weather forecast which said there wouldn’t be rain. There was, no-one could help that. We were unlucky but we’re not complaining. We’ll want to square the account in Melbourne." NEW ZEALAND J. Wright c Chappell b Lawson 36 B. Edgar b Thomson 12 G. Turner lbw b Lillee ... 4 G. Howarth c Marsh b Chappell 9 J. Coney not out 58 J. Morrison b Lillee 35 W. Lees c Marsh b Lawson 1 L. Cairns c Lillee b Hogg . 9 M. Snedden not out 2 Extras (lbls. wll, nbl). . 27 Total (for 7 wickets) 193 Fall: 44. 57, 77, 81,166.171,190. Bowling.-G. Lawson, 10. 4. 28. 2; R. Hogg, 10. 2. 24.1; D. Lillee. 10. 1, 35. 2; J. Thomson. 10. 0 42. 1; G. Chappell. 9. 0. 37. 1. AUSTRALIA G. Wood b Chatfield 12 S. Smith b Cairns 10 A. Border c sub b Chatfield . 9 K. Hughes c Coney b Chatfield 63 D. Hookes not out 20 G. Chappell not out 21 Extras (b 4. Ibl6) 20 Total (for 4 wkts) 155 Fall: 14. 59. 83. 119. Bowling.-G. Troup 5. 0. 30, 0; L. Caims 8.1.0, 27,1; M. Snedden 9,0,45,0; E. Chatfield 10,1,27, 3; J. Coney 1, 0. 6. 0.