MIDLAND AND KARORI

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 37, 14 February 1938, Page 15

MIDLAND AND KARORI

Midland just falied to gam an outright* win over Karori in their match on the Basin Reserve No. 1 wicket, arid towards the end of the day a crop of ]bw decisions, followed by a serious misunderstanding over the extra time allowed to Midland for their second innings, provided a hectic finish to the match. Eventually when Standidge led the Karori team from the field Midland were 24 runs short of an outright win. A soft wicket assisted the bowlers throughout'the day, and Midland, who resumed their innings with 36 runs on the board for the loss of one wicket in-reply to Karori's total of 130 received some early setbacks, three wickets falling in quick time. However, any possibility of a collapse was quickly removed by Osborn, who gave a sound display in assisting Midland to pass Karori's score. Osborn was at the wickets for just over an hour in compiling 54 runs. Although the position of the match at the time called for cautious batting, the batsman quickly proved that runs could be scored steadily. Several loose deliveries were dealt with properly, powerful drives and pulls • giving the fieldsmen no chance of preventing the boundaries. Benefiting from Osborn's example, Freeman trounced the bowling dunng. his few minutes at the crease, and his 21 runs were scored from five strokes. A lively ninth-wicket partnership by Hepburn and Bezzant ended by a close run-out decision against Bezzant was the remaining feature of Midland's first innings, and many of the 56 runs added during this partnership came from neat shots by both batsmen.

Facing a deficiency of 109 runs on the first innings, Karori began well in their second venture, 50 runs being on the board for the loss of one wicket. However, Midland's chances of an outright win were improved greatly by the fall of five more wickets for the addition of 34 runs. Four of the batsmen were given out lbw, and there was no little surprise at some of the decisions. Of the earlier batsmen Heenan was the only one to really get going, and in a sound display he scored 32 runs, including a 6 and four 4's. Still, it was mainly due to stubborn batting by F. Browne and Standidge that an innings loss was averted, Browne scoring 23 before being the fourth lbw victim of the innings. With a half-century Standidge topscored for the innings, and during his stay of 42 minutes played a fine fighting innings. There were three 6's and three 4's in his score.

Bowling for Midland, • Freeman caused the batsmen some concern and, although coming-in for punishment at times, he took six wickets for 73 runs—an excellent performance. Requiring 60 runs for an eight-point win, Midland had scored 36 for the loss of two wickets when play ended, O'Neill and Freeman hitting aggressively before losing their wickets.

A feature of the game was the consistent calling of no-balls. All told, twenty-five were given against the bowlers of both teams. Details:— MIDLAND. First Innings. Crawford, b Duffy 13 Fay, c J. Coupland, b Montgomery 23 Buddie, c W. Coupland, b Montgomery .: •. 17 Osborn, c Macdonald, b Montgomery 54 O'Neill, b Duffy 7 Ralfe, Ibw,, b F. Browne —. 1!3 Freeman, c Cooper 21 Gates, run out 14 Hepburn, c and. b Wells 34 Bezzant. run out ..... ,25 Fortune, not . out ■ 2 Extras . ~ 10 Total 239 Fall of Wickets.—One for 25, two for 49, three, for 72, four for 83, five for 123, six for 156, seven for 174, eight for 178, nine for 236, ten for 239. Bowling.—Duffy took two wickets for 53 runs, Montgomery three for 61, Macdonald none for 41, F. Browne one for il7, Cooper one for 36, Standidge none for 20. Wells one for 1. Second Innings.O'Neill, run out 15 Freeman, b Macdonald 17 Crawford, not out. 2 Hepburn, not out 0 Extras ..... .:. 2 Total for two wickets 36 Fall of Wickets.—One for 29, two for 36. Bowling.—Montgomery took no wickets for 23 runs. Macdonald one for 11. I KARORI. First innings 130 Second Innings. Duffy, ibw, b Freeman IS J. Coupland, b Freeman ......... 9 D. Heenan, b Freeman 32 Cooper, Ibw, b Freeman ]J Briggs, Jbw, b Freeman 7 F. Browne, Ibw, b Crawford ~. 23 Wells, b Freeman 0 W. Coupiand. st Buddie, b Hepburn 4 I Montgomery, c Osborn, b O'Neill 13 jStandidge, c Freeman, b O'Neill. 50 ! MacrlonaJrl, not out 3 I Extras 11 Total 168

I Fall of Wickets.—One for 16, two for 50, three for 68, four for 75, five for 82, six for 84, seven for 95, eight for 127, nine for 143, ten for 168. Bowling.—O'Neill took two wickets for 28 runs, Freeman six for 73, Hepburn one for 33, Crawford one for ii-