Cricket trophy regained

Press, 25 January 1988, Page 21

Cricket trophy regained

By MARG FRANCIS Australia regained the Shell Rosebowl with a comfortable 28-run win over New Zealand in the women’s cricket inter- ; national at Lancaster Park on Saturday. The victory extended Australia’s series lead to an unassailable 2-0 with the final match to be played in Wellington today. Fielding first, New Zealand did well to restrict the Australian batsmen to an average of 2.5 runs an over for the first 40 overs on Saturday. The New Zealand bowlers, for the most part', maintained a good line and were backed up by sharp fielding with Debbie Hockley, Ingrid Jagersma and Karen Gunn particularly outstanding. With the new ball Brigit Legg bowled very tightly and, later, the off-spinner, Nancy Williams, was also extremely accurate. The Australian opening batsmen, Sharlene Heywood and Ruth Buckstein, put on 64 runs before they were separated. After 40 overs the score was 103 but, more importantly, only one wicket had fallen. In the last 20 overs Australia was able to add another 106 runs with aggressive batting and very fast running between the wickets. Heywood, who drove handsomely, topscored for the tourists with 54, while Belinda Haggett contributed a hard-hitting 48. Some poor calling caused the demise of three middle-order batsmen. However, the arrival of Karen Brown and Lyn Larson caused the runrate to really rocket. All of the bowlers suffered as Brown and Larson moved down the pitch and turned good-length deliveries into half-volleys. Brown’s 38 came from just 25 balls, and Larson’s 22 off 23 balls, boosting the total to 209 after 60 overs. In reply, New Zealand also began slowly, but failed to increase the tempo soon enough. At the top of the order Jackie Clark held the innings together with her 35. With 40 overs bowled,

New Zealand was 78 for four when, with positive running, it could have been more favourably placed. Joining Williams in the fortieth over, Jagersma helped get the run-rate moving. Their partnership was worth a bright 35, only for both to fall at the fateful score of 111. Gunn and Lois Simpson continued New Zealand's improvement, Gunn hitting firmly to the on-side boundaries. They added 49 before Gunn was run out for 30, scored from 30 deliveries. New Zealand steadily fell behind its' requirements and was dismissed in the fifty-ninth over for 181. The most successful of the Australian bowlers was Lyn FuHston, who deceived three of the top-order . New Zealand batsmen with her left-arm deliveries. The New Zealand coach, Trish McKelvey; was naturally disappointed with the result,' and particularly the per-, formances of the first four batsmen, who did not keep to the game plan.' Scoreboard:— AUSTRALIA R. Buckstein c Jagersma b Williams ; 26 S. Heywood std Jagersma b Dunning 54 B. Haggett run out ... . 48 D. Annetts run out ... . 9 K. Saunders run out . . . 0 K. Brown c Dunning b Legg 38 L. Larson not out 22 C. Matthews not out. ... 2 Extras (b2, lb 6, w2). .. . 10 Total (for 6 wkts) 209 Bowling.—B. Legg 12, 2; 41,1; J. Harris 9,1, 33, 0; K. Gunn 12, 2, 35, 0; E. Signal 6,0, 32, 0; N. Williams 12; 3, 31, 1; J. Dunning 9,0, 29. 1. NEW ZEALAND P. Kinsella c Annetts b Saunders 8 J. Clark lbw b FuHston. . 35 D. Hockley c and b Fullston . .■ 8 J. Dunning c and b FuHston 10 N. Williams run out... . 20 I. Jagersma c Brown b Moffat 16 K. Gunn run out 30 L. Simpson c and b Goss 15 B. Legg run out 7 E. Signal not out. .... . 1 J. Harris c Heywood b Saunders 8 Extras (b2, IblO, wll) . . 23 Total 181 Bowling—Z. Goss 11, 2, 31, 1; K. Brown 12, 2, 42, 0; S. Moffat 12, 2, 27, 1; K. Saunders 12, 2, 35, 2; L. FuHston 12, 2, 34, 3. Umpires: R. L. McHarg, P. F. Carrick.