SATURDAY'S CRICKET

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 23, 28 January 1924, Page 10

SATURDAY'S CRICKET

MIDLAND COLLAPSE AGAINST PETONE ~ / - THREE CENTURIES. AND LARGE TEAM TOTALS. , , OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCES. Batting. H. Prince (Institute) 144 W. G. Hughes (Hutt) i» e R. A. Westbrook IV.M.C.A.) IS G A. Finlayson (Petone) .' 93 T. Barr (Institute) SB J. S. Banks (Institute) .'..... 81 R. Murphy (V.M.C.A.), gn» A. Sugden (Y.M.C.iA.) .-. '. 7a T. B. Nelson (Institute) GO •Not out. / Bowling. A. Finlayson (Petone) 6 for 19 I). Patrick-(Midland) 6 for 91 v A decided change in the outlook for the senior championship was brought about by the play, on Saturday afternoon, | when,' under excellent conditions, the sixths series of matches was concluded. The players who.had represented Wellington against Otago were not taking part, and their absence was felt by some of the teams, although others rose' to the occasion and achieved success, which was not altogether expected. Petone, for instance,' appealed to be in a hopeless position against Midland, but a senBatipnal turn of fortune gave, them a surprise victory, the town team making a feeble showing in an effort to make 68 runs. Finlayson was largely responsible for Petoners win, as, in addition to making a score which was only two short of the century, he took six wickets for 19 runs—a splendid performance. In the Thorndon-Institute match, Institute were faced with a big hurdle, hut by excellent batting they surmounted it to gain a meritorious win. Institute rattled on runs in good style, and when stumps were drawn the score book showed a formidable tally of 464 for the loss of nine wickets. Hutt made a great effort to reach the score of 317 made by Old Boys, but they failed by 27 runs. In the other match V.M.C.A. were faced with an even greater task, Wellington in their test innings having . made 431. . Although the Wellington bowling may have been weakened to some extent on account of the' absence of the representatives a score of that size was a tall order for an opposing team. V.M.C.A., however, tackled the proposij tion with confidence, and sb well did they wield the willow, that Wellington's big score was passed for the.loss of seven wickets. The day was one of the best that has been experienced in .Wellington in the matter of scoring; lin fact, throughout the (matches which were concluded on Saturday the scoring was exceptional. The individual performances with the bat included one double century and six centuries. Three; teams made first innings scores of over 400, and two passed the 300 mark. Those players who made centuries on Saturday were Prince (Institute), Hughes (Hutt), and Westbrook (V.M.C.A.), each of whom batted splendidly. There were quite a number of good scores between 50 and 100,...The -results/of/the,matches make the championship position very interesting, Petone having now drawn level with Midland, and Old Boys, V.M.C.A.. and Hutt being close up.; Championship points are as follow:—Petone 14, Midland 14, Old Boys 12, V.M.C.A. Hi, Hutt 11, Institute 9, Wellington 7, Thorndon IJ. , Details of play on Saturday are:—• " INSTITUTE'S FINE SCORE." With a good first .inning's score of 360, Thorndon were on the road to gaining their first win this season, b-ut the total'was not beyond Institute, and once again Thorndon were disappointed. The match was played at Kelburn Park, and on the previous Saturday Institute, commencing their reply to Thorndon's big effort, had put on 50 runs without losing a wicket. A big' improvement was made on Saturday when the innings was resumed. Banks and Nelson were •in scoring mood, and before they were separated the'total was 143: Banks went when his score was v 7l, and Nelson got as far as 60, while Biirt could only make 5. In subsequent play Foley made a fair score, but Malcolm failed to open his account. The position when the sixth and. seventh wickets fell was still favourable to Thorfldon, but it' was then that another splendid partnership was made. Prince'-and Barr showed every confidence > against the bowling, and they obtained runs in plenty. ' Prince was particularly attractive. He made his strokes all round the wickets, and his vigour accounted for numerous despatches to the boundary, while he sent two balls out of the playing area. The effort of Prince and Barr shattered Thprndon's hopes of success, as those two batsmen, the latter a promoted junior, carried Institute's total passed the 400 mark: Prince compiled the fine score of Hi before he was caught behind the stumps. He was at the crease for about two hours, and 104 of his score was made up by boundary hits. Barr also fell to a. catch behind the wickets, his contribution of 88 being splendid for a junior I player. Massey and Condliffe (also prompted) batted for a time without losing their wickets, and when stumps were drawn Institute had a total of 464 for nine wickets. It was a fine reply on their part. Thorndon tried nine bowlers, Ellerm meeting with mosfc_ success. Martin, the wicketkeeper, was injured during the game, and Warne filled the position beHind the stumps Details: ' ' . THORNDON. First Innings 360 INSTITUTE. First Innings. Banks, lbw b Ellerm ....' 81 Nelson,' b Ellerm , gO Burt, c Leggatt, b Ellerm ... . '"." 5 Fpley b Leggatt 30 Malcolm, b Mason , 0 Rogers, b Hyder '.< .' '."."'.!'. 12 I Griffiths, c and b Mason 1 Prinoe, c Warne, b Brook m Barr, c Warne, b Phillips 88 ' Masßey, not out 14. Condliffe, not out .'.'.'.'.'..'." 6 Extras _ 23 Total for nine wickets 464 , How the wickets fell: One for 143 two for 158, three for 161, four for 242 five for 251/, six for 263; seven for 278* eight for 415, nine for 442. ' Bowliiig Analysis:—Warne took no wiukets for 46 runs, Leggatt one for- 49 Hyder one for 66, Wareham'nohe for 30 Ellerm three for 57, Carruthers none for 30, Mason two foil 68, Brook one for 30 Phillips one for 21. '