Two players hold key to first innings

Press, 26 January 1988, Page 44

Two players hold key to first innings

From

JOHN COFFEY

in Auckland

Two of this country’s most positive cricketers, Paul McEwan and Danny Morrison, have vital roles to fulfil when the Shell Trophy match between Canterbury and Auckland resumes at Eden Park No. 2 this morning.

After Morrison had done considerable damage to the top-order batting, McEwan guided Canterbury back on course towards at least first innings points. McEwan will start the second day with his personal score at 62. Auckland still leads by 79 runs, but Canterbury has six wickets in hand. Theoretically, Canterbury should achieve its first goal. But Morrison impressed so much in his opening spell of nine overs yesterday to suggest that he is more than capable of turning the match back in Auckland’s favour.

Canterbury has already missed one opportunity to stamp its authority on a match that is vital to both

provinces. Its two most experienced players, Michael Holding and McEwan, became entangled in their haste to run out a stranded Martin Bradley when Auckland’s innings was sagging at 141 for seven.

Reprieved, Bradley joined with Morrison in a 50-run partnership for the ninth wicket. Unveiling previously hidden batting talents at this level, Bradley hit both Canterbury spinners, David Hartshorn and Mark Priest, for straight sixes, and Morrison also lofted a ball from Hartshorn over the longon fence. There were plenty of mishits, too, but it was disappointing that Canterbury’s fielding should deteriorate during the 41 minutes Bradley and Morrison were together. Finally, it was left to Bill Lawrence to remove Morrison and Richard de Groen with consecutive deliveries; he starts the second innings on a hattrick.

Although Phil Horne had made a useful contribution in the morning, only the caretaker captain, Bill Fowler, threatened to thwart Canterbury’s plans of restricting Auckland to a modest

total, Fowler sometimes lived dangerously, but he punished anything loose until he became one of the

wicket-keeper, Lee Germon’s, three catching victims. Fowler was at his best either side of lunch. For an appetiser he plundered three fours from an over by Priest. After dessert he had the audacity to hook Michael Holding for six. That was a rare lapse from line and length by Holding, however. The West Indian quickly dismissed the usually adhesive Trevor Franklin, had Steve Brown dropped and cartwheeled Paul Kelly’s off stump. Opposing batsmen understandably place survival first when facing Holding. From 1058 balls in the Shell Trophy series, he has conceded only 318 runs and taken 20 wickets at 15.9 runs each. Eden Park had rolled out not a red carpet for Holding and Morrison, but rather an old moth-eaten, brownish rug of a pitch. Yet these men of contrasting physique and at opposite ends of their test careers revealed there existed a little life somewhere under the surface. Once Holding — and Lawrence, for he deserved his successes, too — had finished, Morrison proved that his early return from Australia should boost New Zealand’s chances in the tests, against England. While his former national team-mates were crossing the Tasman, probably still dizzy from the circus nature of limited-over cricket, Morrison was bristling with pleasure at the chance to bowl to orthodox field placements. David Dempsey was caught at short leg, Blair Hartland fell to a magnificent wicket-keeping catch, high to his left, by Kelly, who later held a much simpler chance from

David Hartshorn. When Horne saved himself from serious injury by clutching a fullblooded out by Rod Latham off de Groen’s bowling, Canterbury was on the brink at 75 for

four. By then, McEwan was already into stride, pulling and cutting Morrison for boundaries, achieving’ an

immediate ascendancy over the medium-pacer, lan Fisher, then draining de Groen’s enthusiasm with three successive fours through mid-on. But he could not overhaul Auckland singlehandedly, and happily for Canterbury McEwan discovered an able assistant in Peter Kennedy. Their fifth-wicket stand had been worth 50 runs in 73 minutes, highlighted by a straight-hit six by Kennedy off the off-spinner, Martin Bradley. It was important that McEwan and Kennedy stay until stumps. After reaching his half-century off 77 balls, McEwan resisted any temptation to increase the tempo. Another task awaits Canterbury if it does collect first innings points. The pitch is greatly encouraging the spinners, and a sizeable lead might be a prerequisite for outright victory. AUCKLAND First innings P. A. Horne b Priest. ... 30 T. J. Franklin lbw b Holding 1 S. V/. Brown c Holding b Lawrence. 16 M. R. Pringle c Germon b Hartshorn 26 A. J. Hunt c Hartland b Priest 6 W. P. Fowler c Germon b Hartshorn 56 I. D. Fisher lbw b Hartshorn 0 P. J. Kelly b Holding ... 11 M. J. Bradley not out ... 37 D. K. Morrison c Germon b Lawrence 18 R. P. de Groen c Hartland b Lawrence 0 Extras (lb 3 3 Total 204 Fall: 3, 40, 56, 68, 113, 129, 140, 154, 204, 204. Bowling.— M. A. Holding 23, 9, 33, 2; A. J. Hintz 5. 0, 17, 0; C. W. H. Lawrence 11.5, 2, 33, 3; M. W. Priest 16, 4, 62, 2; D. J. Harsthorn 14, 3, 56, 3. CANTERBURY First innings B. R. Hartland c Kelly b Morrison ' 12 D. A. Dempsey c Hunt b Morrison '9 P. E. McEwan not out. . . 62 D. J. Hartshorn c Kelly b Morrison 0 R. T. Latham c Horne b de Groen 5 P. G. Kennedy not out. . . 28 Extras (bl, lb 4, nb4).... 9 Total (for 4 wkts) 125, Fall: 13, 40, 48, 75. Bowling.— D. K. Morrison 14, 5, 28, 3; R. P. de Groen 8,1, 38, 1; I. D. Fisher 8,1, 26, 0; M. J. Bradley 5,0, 17, 0; W. P. Fowler 6,2, 11, 0.