FIGHTING FOR RUNS

Evening Star, Issue 22578, 20 February 1937, Page 20

FIGHTING FOR RUNS

OTAGO BOWLERS SHAPE WELL SUCCESS TO DUNNING AND ELMES Perfect weather conditions prevailed when the Otago-Canterbury Plunket Shield cricket match was resumed at Carisbrook this morning. Under the influence of brilliant sunshine the ground and wicket had dried up to a remarkable degree, both being in a fast state. Canterbury found run-getting extremely difficult, the Otago bowlers getting a certain amount of assistance from the wicket, causing the batsmen to adopt purely defensive tactics except during occasional phases ot the aggression. There was a fair crowd present in the morning. Groves opened the bowling to O'Brien, who was content to play a maiden. Silver operated from the Workshop's end and his first over securely tested Pages defence. Off the fifth ball. P . a | c ,, 1 ob I ta ' n^l single when Badcock misfielded at coyer poiti, and then O'Brien just steered a real good delivery past his leg pm. Unexpectedly Dunning took oyer from Groves, 6 runs coming from the over. Silver sent down another over ot good-length balls which m PP®d m dangerously from the off. Dunning followed up with a maiden over to Page, who played the full face of the bat to balls which were turning in from the off. In Silver's next over, O’Brien turned a ball going away to leg with a shot which revealed perfect timing, the ball flashing to the boundary. Page followed this up with a beautiful square cut for four in Silver s next over, bringing the total to 80 after 114 minutes’ batting. Both 1 age and O’Brien were watching the deliveries closely, with the result that many ballu which nipped off the pitch disconcertingly were met with the full face of the bat. Silver looked much more dangerous than Dunning, off whom the batsmen were scoring freely at tne moment. Silver’s last ball of his next over rose up sharply from the pitcn and Page just evaded what would have been a nasty blow on the chest. After five- overs, two of which were maidens, costing 12 runs, Dunning gave over to Elmes, but the latter s slows did not trouble Page, who drove a full toss through the covers to the boundary. Dunning was then tried from the other end, and a single to O’Brien (27) brought the 100 up in 128 minutes. Two overs later, Dunning succeeded in shifting Pag© when he put his foot in front of one which he tried to hit to square leg. Page had been at the crease for 57 minutes, and Dunning now had three wickets for 18 runs. 101—4—15. Cromb opened confidently to Dunning, but in Elmcs’s next over he lifted one into the bowler’s hands, a simple catch being accepted. 104—5 —3. Bellamy was the incomer, and he played the remaining balls of the over back to the bowler, who was credited with a maiden. Dunning’s next over to O’Brien was also a maiden, and his next over to Bellamy was most uncomfortable to him, two balls completely heating his bat. Another change in the attack saw Elmes (two for 32) give over to Groves, and O’Brien broke his long spell of silence by getting the slow bowler away for a single. Dunning continued to trouble the batsmen, and ho was revealing form which enhanced his chances of representing Now Zealand. KEEPING THEM QUIET. . The rate of scoring slowed up considerably as Dunning and Groves had both O’Brien and Bellamy playing with the utmost caution for over after over, the rather unexpected dismissal of Page and Cromb having a restraining influence on the batsmen. O’Brien broke the long spell when he lifted Groves with a spectacular shot to the long on boundary, bringing his total to 40 after being at the crease for 110 minutes. Bellamy spoilt a long string of maidens to Dunning by snicking one through the slips for a single. After Groves had beaten Bellamy’s bat with a ball which just shaved the wicket, Dunning almost succeeded in bowling O’Brien, who opened his shoulders to one just outside the off stick. Some frequent changes in the bowling saw Ninimo take_ over from Groves, who had bowled nine overs for 25 runs. Nimmo’s first over was erratic, most of the balls being out of reach of the batsmen. Dunning was persisted with from the other end, but Silver took over from Nimmo to allow him to operate from the Workshops’ end. O’Brien reached 50 in Silver’s over in 126 minutes. Nimmo’s first delivery was pitched on the wicket, and completely heat Bellamy, whose leg pin was knocked out of the ground. 1476 —14. Nimmo’s next delivery was a wide on the off, and then Sharpe just got his bat down in time to a straight one which kept low. The remaining balls, however, were wildly delivered. In Nimmo’s next over the total reached 150, after 205 minutes—an _ extremely slow rate, certainly indicative of Otago’s steady attack. Two more changes in the bowling found Groves taking over from Silver, who sent down the last over before lunch from the other end. Silver’s over almost brought success. O’Brien played one dangerously past Uttley at square leg, and Sharpe was beaten several times, one ball flashing past the leg pin, and Mills dropping what appeared to be an extremely difficult catch. So far Mills had kept wickets splendidly, taking many awkward deliveries with confidence and missing no apparent chances of obtaining a wicket. PACE QUICKENS. The batsmen were not perturbed by the break in the play, O’Brien collecting a couple off Dunning’s first over and repeated the performance twice in succession off Silver. With the total at 162, the batsmen had scored exactly 100 runs for the day’s play of 128 minutes. The last ball of Silver’s next over just missed Sharpe’s wicket. Both batsmen, however, continued to score freely, and smart fielding prevented numerous other runs. Dunning was given only one more over before Elmes was tried again, but in two overs ho did not look like getting a wicket. O’Brien opened his shoulders to the first ball of Silver’s next over, driving it hard past mid-off to the boundary. He scored a single off the next ball, and then Sharpe had another uncomfortable time to Silver, who was still sending them down with as much vim as ever. However, he was relieved by Dunning for the next over, and Sharpe edged him to leg for a brace. At 2.15 p.m. Canterbury’s score bad mounted to 182, O’Bricti having reached 75 and Sharpe 7, with extras standing at 16.

OTAGO. First innings 124 CANTERBURY. —First Innings.— J. L. Kerr b Dunning 27 W. A. Hadlee b Elmes ... 13 R. E. Menzies Ibw b Dunning ... 12 F. P. O’Brien not out 75 M. L. Page Ibw b Dunning 15 I. Cromb c and b Elmes 3 F. Bellamy b Nimmo 14 M. Sharpe not out ... 7 Extras - ... 16 Total for six wickets ... 182 BOWLING ANALYSIS.

0. M. R. W J. Tsiraino ... ... S 3 13 1 R. Silver ... ... 18 3 40 0 C. Elmes ... ... 17 o 32 O J. Dunning ... 27 14 28 3 L. Groves ... ... 11 2 27 0