Border holds Aust. draw hopes

Press, 7 August 1985, Page 64

Border holds Aust. draw hopes

NZPA-Reuter Manchester Australia’s hopes of salvaging a draw in the fourth cricket test against England rest heavily on the shoulders of the skipper, Allan Border. Criticised for the rash shot which led to his dismissal in the first innings, Border batted with great restraint to counter the skills of the England spinners, John Emburey and Phil Edmonds. He and Greg Ritchie breathed new life into the innings with an unfinished stand of 54 after the Middlesex spinners had reduced the touring team to 138 for four. By the close of the fourth day Border had made a painstaking, unbeaten 49 in hree hours and Ritchie 22 out of a total of 192 for four. Australia will go into the final day still needing another 33 to avoid an innings defeat. The fast bowler, Craig McDermott, aged 20, and on bis first overseas tour, stole tie spotlight in the morning. He took the three England wickets that fell after

they had resumed at 448 for six to become only the tenth Australian to take eight wickets in a test innings. He was the only wicket taker in the innings and his final figures of eight for 141 represented an outstanding performance on a pitch completely unsuited to pace bowlers. Despite McDermott’s oneman show, England boasted a first innings lead of 225 and it was clear that, without assistance from the miserable English weather, Australia were going to have to bat exceptionally well to save themselves from going 2-1 down in the six-match series. After a few overs of pace, the England captain, David Gower, turned to the wiles of Emburey and Edmonds, and was quickly rewarded with the wicket of Greg Matthews, who opened the innings in place of Kepler Wessels. The left-arm spinner Edmonds held a fiercely struck return catch immediately after lunch before Matthews added to the 17 he had made of the opening 4 stand

Of 38. Edmonds, who bowled 38 overs at a cost of 78 runs, looked as if he had added to that solitary wicket in the final over of the day when a clutch of close fielders appealed in unison for a batpad chance off Ritchie. lan Botham, who took the “catch,” stared in disbelief at the umpire Mr David Shepherd when he turned down the appeal. The three other wickets fell to Emburey, who ended the day with the impressive figures of three for 56 from 32 overs. He broke a promising stand between Andrew Hilditch and Wessels at 85 by bowling Hilditch for 40 and then removed Wessels and David Boon, top scorer in the first innings, while only 12 runs were added. Wessels was caught and bowled immediately after a gutsy 50 off 112 deliveries at 126 and Boon was bowled as he charged down the track at the off-spinner. ENGLAND First innings G. Gooch lbw McDermott 74 T. Robinson c Border b

McDermott 10 D. Gower c Hilditch b McDermott 47 M. Gatting c Phillips b McDermott 160 A. Lamb run out 67 I. Botham c O’Donnell b McDermott 20 P. Downton b McDermott 23 J. Emburey not out. ... 31 P. Edmonds b McDermott 1 P. Allott b McDermott. . 7 J. Agnew not out 2 Extras (7b, 161 b, 17nb). 40 Total (for 9 wkts dec.) 482 Fall: 21, 142, 149, 304, 339, 430, 448, 450, 470. Bowling: G. Lawson 37, 7, 114, 0 (9nb); C. McDermott 36, 3, 141, 8 (8nb); R. Holland 38, 7, 101, 0; S. O’Donnell 21, 6, 82, 0; G. Matthews 9,2, 21, 0. AUSTRALIA Second innings A. Hilditch b Emburey. . 40 G. Matthews c and b Edmonds 17 K. Wessels c and b Emburey 50 A. Border not out 49 D. Boon b Emburey ... 7 G. Ritchie not out ... . 22 Extras (lb, 31b, 3nb). . 7 Total (for 4 wkts) 192 Fall: 38, 85, 126, 138. Bowling: I. Botham 7,1, 25, 0; P. Allott 5,2, 3,0; P. Edmonds 38, 9, 78, 1; J. Emburey 32, 11, 56, 3>(lnb); J. Agnew 7,2, 22, 0 (2nb)f’M. Gatting 1,0, 4, 0.