WELLINGTON SCORE STEADILY

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 153, 26 December 1936, Page 13

WELLINGTON SCORE STEADILY

C-TAGQ BOWLERS .ON . QUIET WKiKiE

A quiet wicket gave Wellington a steady opening at the Basin Reserve today, when the Plunket Shield fixture with Otago, delayed for a day by rain, was started. The wicket, however, was offset a little by the slowness of the outfield, bul the opening batsmen were free in their methods. Otago's bowlers had also to contend with a gusty northerly, and Wellington's first 50 went up in under even time. Wellington's total had been taken to 116 for one wicket by lunch, despite Otago's frequent changes of attack.

With Otago trying to overcome the lack of life in the wicket by frequent bowling changes—seven men were tried before lunch—it appeared that Wellington's opening pair, E. W. Tindill and D. A. B. Moloney, would dig themselves in for a healthy partnership. They were both confident, but Tindill doubled the scoring-rate of his partner, placing rather than forcing. His turns and snicks to leg and frequent steering through the slips drew applause- from the moderate crowd, but at 40 he misjudged a straight one from J. A. Dunning, Otago's captain, and was out Ibw. Moloney was restricted in his scoring, but he was always ready to go for likely ones. On rare occasions he was uncertain in his timing, but he compensated by his consistent vigour. After TindilPs dismissal he applied the pressure, seeking to keep the change men from settling to their length. Dunning was the mainstay of Otago's morning attack. His cleverly-disguised change of pace and good length kept runs down to a minimum. Before the start of play today he needed four wickets to bring up his 100 wickets in Plunket Shield cricket. The teams were:— Wellington.—J. R. Lamasbn (captain), D. A. R. Moloney, E. W. Tindill, E. G. McLeod, S. , N. Gallichan,-- C. Parsloe, W. Tricklebank, J. A. R. Blandford, B. Griffiths, and E. D. Blundell. Otago.—J. A. Dunning (captain), F. T. Badcock, A. R. Knight, C. J. Elmes, L. Groves, F. B. Kerr, C. McGregor, G. Mills, R. Silver, K. F. M. Uttley, J., C. Scandrett, and T. Fraser (twelfth man). The umpires are Messrs. A, W. Aldershot and C. Moore. The pitch of Silver, opening from.the north end, was erratic until he gauged the variations of the blustery breeze. He altered his pace deceptively, and often his length. Moloney, who opened with Tindill for Wellington, took advantage of fumbling in the field to sneak a short single to mid-wicket, and Tindill came to light with a brace of beautiful leg-glides that yielded 2 each. After opening with a maiden Badcock exploited leg-theory against Moloney, dispensing .with slips and bringing five men close in on the leg and putting-one deep at fine-leg. Moloney, however, planted a pair backward of where point should have been. Tindill belted Silver to mid-on for a smart-ly-r>un 3 and Moloney followed with a carpet-drive through the covers for 2, and another 2 to mid-on. Dunning relieved Silver, who had bowled five overs for 17, and. Moloney celebrated the change by straight-driv-ing him to the fence for the first boundary of the innings. The shot was made off the back foot, but "it was not hindered by the heaviness of the outfield. Another single to Moloney and then Tindill late-cut; Dunning . for ,'a 3 that almost reached the pickets. Tindill was getting more of the bowling than Moloney, and relied for most of his scoring on wristy shots behind the wicket on the off and neatly-judged turns to leg. His run-getting was more consistent, but Moloney, with occasional ruggedness, showed that he was ready to punish any loose stuff. Badcock, bowling tirelessly and accurately, was keeping both batsmen quiet, his first ten overs costing only 12 runs. He was spelled then by Elmes, left-hand slow-medium, but ,Tindill was not impressed. He pulled the second ball for 2, stepped .out to collect another cquple ,to mid-off, and brought up Wellington's half-century by .smiting a grassy one througli the covers for a boundary. With.the score at 52 Moloney had contributed 15 and Tindill 31/ the 50 having been reached in just under even time. Once Dunning had found his length he inspired caution; five of his first eight overs were maidens and 12 had been scored off him. PARTNERSHIP BROKEN. What had the makings of a really stubborn partnership was broken shortly after noon, when Tindill put his pads in front of Dunning. He had scored an efficient 40 which included one boundary, and one wicket was down for 67. Moloney loosened up considerably when he was joined by McLeod, getting his toe to the ball for weighty deep-field ■ drives. McLeod, batting more patiently, contributed a string of pairs, leaving the main offensive to his partner. Moloney collected a 3 to midon off Dunning and then clumped him to the line. Inspired by this, McLeod also found the boundary off the same bowler, and further heavy work by Moloney brought Wellington's hundred in sight. A short single to Moloney off Groves, who had taken over from Elmes at the south end, put the century on the board after 98 minutes' play. Moloney had given a near-chance in the slips, but apart from that snick his brisk batting had not given the field encouragement. Many warm shots had been stopped short by snappy fielding. At the luncheon adjournment Wellington had scored 116 for one wicket, Moloney being nearly 50 and McLeod 19. . AFTERNOON'S PLAY. The scoring rate did not slacken after lunch, although the sun had improved the wicket for the bowlers. With a straight 2 off Badcock, Moloney passed 50,' but McLeod went in Dunning's next over. He played round an altered break and was bowled at 23. Two wickets had fallen for 122. Moloney carried the score along confidently, partnered by War, who was quick to find his feet The batsmen found Badcock, on again at the south end, more, difficult than in the morning, and Dunning, who had bowled more than 20 overs, was also maintaining a good length and getting fire from the wicket. Details:— ' WELLINGTON. First Innings. Tindill, Ibw, b Dunning 40 Moloney, not out Gi 1 McLeod, b Dunning 23 Ward, not out lo Extras .' 9 Total for two wickets 152