McEwan takes Canterbury to surprisingly easy win

Press, 27 February 1984, Page 36

McEwan takes Canterbury to surprisingly easy win

By

R. T. BRITTENDEN

Another virtuoso performance by Paul McEwan carried Canterbury to an unexpectedly easy five-wicket win over Otago at Lancaster Park yesterday, to put Canterbury back at the top of the table in the Shell Trophy cricket contest.

It was a superb performance by McEwan, who scored the season’s fastest 50 — from 35 deliveries — and the young Anup Nathu, playing his first match for Canterbury, also played a major role with a 70 not out in 250 minutes which gave the innings the backbone it needed. It was a low-scoring match, on a pitch which had a very modest bounce and pace, but plenty of slow turn. The batting of both sides, in the main, was second-rate, and Otago, which seemed to be a bowler short before the game started, was without Neil Mallender after one over on Friday. On Saturday morning Canterbury’s first mission was to score the 40 runs it needed, with four wickets in hand, to match Otago’s 195. This it failed to do, with a miserable succession of failures, caused by an insistence on playing across the line. Richard Webb, bowling accurately and at a lively pace, took two more wickets to finish with five. So Otago led by 30, and at 50 for none, Canterbury’s prospects looked dim. However, McEwan again succeeded in dismissing the talented young Ken Rutherford, and from that point the innings fell apart. There was stiff resistance

from lan Rutherford (two hours and a quarter for 32) and from Warren Lees (28) but the left-arm seam bowling of Steve McNally brought quick returns. The cricket was not of high quality. McNally sent down some good ones, but he has bowled more accurately in the past for lesser returns. Vaughan Brown took the last wicket to make his match total 10, and he won the man of the match award. Canterbury started out after 209 runs on Saturday evening. Ray Jones and Nathu had much on their minds, as Warren Lees crowded them; they not only needed to give their side a good start, but both were fighting for newly-won places in the side. So perhaps their dilatory running between the wickets and their failure to put bat to ball when the loose ones came along could be forgiven. At stumps, the side had scored 35 for two wickets from 30 overs; it should have been 50, at least. Stu McCallum, deputising at wicket-keeper for Lees, who had injured a foot while batting, caught Jones and Rod Fulton was bowled by a beauty from John Lindsay. It was a perfectly pitched off-break and it turned sufficiently, and quickly enough, to get through Fulton’s defence

and underline the apparent difficulty of Canterbury’s task. Andrew Nuttall offered determined resistance, and his 90 minutes of batting in this match should not be forgotten, but when he was out, three were down for 38. McEwan’s first 60 runs were near perfection. There was the realisation that passive defence on a turning pitch could only lead to defeat, and there was the quality and exciting power of stroke to go with his tactical sense. He gave Lindsay a very hard time, hitting 46 runs from the 25 balls the offspinner bowled to him. It effectively put Lindsay out of action. There were some superb lofted drives, Lees refusing until far too late to drop a man in behind the bowler. When he did, it was like putting up an umbrella after being soaked to the skin. McEwan also played some handsome shots off the back foot and Nathu, although aware of his defensive responsibilities, produced some delightful drives and cuts. Otago was desperately short of bowlers, but Lees clearly did not see a great deal of value in Webb’s pace on such a pitch, and left Derek Walker out of the attack altogether. Bruce

Blair bowled seamers with the new ball, off-breaks later. Lees himself bowled at what is known in the trade as “dribbly medium,” and he was not easy to get away. His dismissal of Brown doubled his firstclass bowling aggregate. He had McEwan missed off him and the batsman on 60 and the total 119. A harder chance off Lees, also by McEwan, went down a few runs later. McEwan, 74 from 71 balls, hit 12 fours and a six, and with Nathu added 100 in 70 minutes. His own 50 took 40 minutes. He then ran himself out, but Nathu continued on his deliberate, cool way and Cran Bull batted exceedingly well as they scored the final 43 runs. OTAGO First innings 195 Second innings K. R. Rutherford lbw b McEwan 20 S. J. McCallum c Fulton b Brown 39 I. R. Rutherford b Hadlee 32 B. R. Blair b Brown ... 5 R. D. Hoskin lbw b Taylor. 16 W. K. Lees c McEwan b McNally 28 G. J. Dawson lbw b McNally 6 D. J. Walker lbw b McNally 5 K. J. Lindsay lbw b McNally 7 N. A. Mallender c and b Brown 4 R. J. Webb not out ... . 0 Extras (b 4 Ibll, nbl). . 16 Total . 178

Fall: 58, 62, 70, 114, 131, 150, 157, 173, 178. Bowling.—S. R. McNally, 13, 3, 33, 4; K. G. Taylor, 9,4, 17, 1; V. R. Brown, 32.5, 9, 62, 3; D. R. Hadlee, 9,2, 20, 1; P. E. McEwan, 5,3, 4,1; A. J. Nuttall, 18, 9, 26, 0. CANTERBURY First innings R. P. Jones b Webb.... 6 A. P. Nathu lbw b Webb. 4 P. E. McEwan c and b Lindsay 46 R. W. Fulton c Lees b Blair 17 C. L. Bull c I. Rutherford b Lindsay 6 V. R. Brown not out ... 53 D. R. Hadlee c Dawson b Webb 6 A. J. Nuttall lbw b Blair. 12 A. W. Hart c Blair b Webb 0 S. R. McNally b Webb . . 0 K. G. Taylor lbw b Blair 1 Extras (b 3 lb2, w4, nbs). 14 Total 165 Fall: 15, 24, 79, 83, 101, 125, 155, 160, 162. Bowling.—N. A. Mallender, 1, 0,6, 0; R. J. Webb, 14, 5, 30, 5; D. J. Walker, 10, 6, 21, 0; J. K. Lindsay, 15, 3, 49, 2; B. R. Blair, 10.1, 3, 33, 3; G. J. Dawson, 2,1, 12, 0. Second innings Jones c McCallum b Blair. 15 Nathu not out 70 Fulton b Lindsay. ...... 2 Nuttall c McCallum b Webb 1 McEean run out 74 Brown c McCallum b Lees 17 Bull not out 19 Extras (b 4 lb 6, wl, nbl). 12 Total (for 5 wkts) 210 Fall: 22, 34, 38, 138, 167. Bowling.—Webb, 14, 4, 29, 1; Blair, 30, 13, 54, 1; Lindsay, 24, 8, 75, 1; Lees, 18.2, 4, 40, 1.