Andrew Jones steers N.Z. to victory

Press, 20 November 1987, Page 16

Andrew Jones steers N.Z. to victory

By NZPA sports reporter DAVID LEGGAT Perth New Zealand had an ideal .cricket tour opener on Wednesday evening when it beat Western Australia by four wickets at the W.A.C.A. ground. Not only did it win, but there were enough encouraging aspects about the performance to give optimism for the coming weeks.

Chasing Western Australia’s disappointing 192, the New Zealanders scored 193 for six with seven balls to spare. Certainly, there is some brushing up to do, but that was far outweighed by some heartening efforts particularly by newer members of the side. None did better than the Wellington batsman, Andrew Jones. ' He is on his third full New Zealand tour, after visiting Sri Lanka in April, and India for the World Cup. On Wednesday, batting under lights for the first time, Jones made his highest score for New Zealand, 84 not out, to steer it to victory. Jones is by nature a positive strokeplayer, but his innings of 176 minutes included no fewer than 35 singles and just three fours on the slowish W.A.C.A. outfield.

Although he is not technically a perfect batsman, Jones has enough grit and resilience to do well in Australia.

He came to the crease with New Zealand 13 for two in the seventh over, batting on a pitch in its fifth consecutive day of use.

Along with the opener, Ken Rutherford, he put on 100 for the third wicket to lay the platform for the win, boost his own confidence and set the tour off on a personal high.

Rutherford had his problems with the tall left armer, Bruce Reid, but looked a batsman of genuine quality at times in making 54 before being run out.

He set off for a second run, Jones sent him back and he slipped slightly in mid pitch and had no chance against Ken MacLeay’s flat, accurate throw from square leg.

Reid was able to make the ball jag away from the right hander like an exaggerated fast leg break and coupled with considerable bounce proved a handful for the batsmen.

Going into tbe last 10 overs, New Zealand needed 59 with seven wickets standing. Captain Jeff Crowe then departed after an unhappy stay. He faced 26 balls, without ever looking entirely comfortable before being well caught by the former test wicketkeeper, Tim Zoehrer, wide to his right. Dlpak Patel joined Jones and they picked up 30 runs off the next four overs with intelligent oneday batting. The experience of 10 years with English county

Worcestershire showed through as Patel got 20 off 21 balls before falling to a splendid one-handed diving catch by Reid at deep mid on.

They had added 41 in 27 minutes to carry New Zealand from a potentially awkward situation to safety.

Thirteen were needed off the last three overs. Wicketkeeper lan Smith was yorked by Chris Matthews for one, but Jones and Martin Snedden got New Zealand home without fuss. When the New Zealanders bowled, none did better than Snedden. He is a veteran of 63 one-day internationals and although he has been on the receiving end of some spectacular analyses in the past, Snedden proved his ability in difficult situations at the World Cup.

Without that sort of pressure, he bowled economically, took three very cheap wickets and kept a good line on a pitch which became progressively more responsive for bowlers. While Snedden and Ewen Chatfield are known to be highly competent one-day bowlers, perhaps most pleasing was the performance of the young Aucklander, Danny Morrison. He was playing only his third game for New Zealand and is on his third tour. After spending six weeks pounding in on unresponsive pitches in India, Morrison positively relished the chance to bowl on a strip which offered bounce and movement. He had Mike Veletta, almost certain to make the Australian 12 for the first test early next month, dropped by Jeff Crowe at first slip in his second over, picked up another test candidate Tom Moody and combined aggression with steadiness in completing eight overs and taking two for 26. The bowlers can be well pleased with their efforts — the last five Western Australian wickets fell for 22, the last four in 13 balls — and generally the fielding was good. SCOREBOARD WESTERN AUSTRALIA M. R. J. Veletta run out . 20 G. R. Marsh I.b.w. b Snedden 0 T. M. Moody I.b.w. b Morrison. . . 16 G. M. Wood c Morrison b Patel ... . 38 C S. Andrews c M. Crowe b Snedden 48 K. H. MacLeay b Snedden 21 T. J. Zoehrer c Jones b Chatfield 16 C. D. Matthews c Home b Watson 6 P. A. Capes c Home b Watson 0 B. A. Reid b Morrison. . . 1 S. J. Milosz not out 2 Ektras (b 3 Ibl4, w2, nbs) Total (off 45.2 overs) ... 192 Fall: 3, 27, 59, 121, 154, 170, 185, 186, 189, 191. Bowling: D. K. Morrison 8. 0, 26. 2, (nb2); M. C. Snedden 8,1, 20, 3, (wl); W. Watson 8.2, 0, 40, 2 (wl, nb3); E. J. Chatfield 10, O, 35, I; D. N. Patel 9,0, 42, 1; A. H. Jones 2,0, 12, 0. NEW ZEALAND P. Horne I.b.w. b Capes. . 2 K. Rutherford run out. . . 54 M. Crowe c Zoehrer b Capes 2 A. Jones not out 84 J. Crowe c Zoehrer b Capes 8 D. Patel C Reid b Matthews 20 I. Smith b Matthews .... 1 M. Snedden not out 4 Extras (IblO w8) 18 Total (for six wickets in 48.5 overs) 193 Fall: 5, 13, 113,139,180, 186. Bowling: P. Capes 10. 1. 25, 3 (W2); K. Macleay 9.5, O, 37, O; c. Matthews 9,0, 44, 2 (w3); B. Reid 10, 0, 41, 0, (w2); S. Milosz 10, 0, 36, 0 (wl). Batting time: 206 min. Crowd: 6804. New Zealand won by four wickets.