CRICKET

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 25 January 1927, Page 9

CRICKET

PLUNKET SHIELD.

WELLINGTON v. AUCKLAND

AUCKLAND WIN BY T 11 ll EE; WICKETS,

(BV TELEGRAPH PRESS ASSOCIATION,) ' AUCHBAND; Tail. 25.

Thirty-six minutes.’ play- at Etden Pla.rk this morning &&&', -Auckland vie-, torious in their match against- Wellington. for the Piunket Shield. The wicket had, worked splendidly and was in excellent condition. Auckland need-' ed-32 -runs to, win, and with, four wickets still in hand, their task appeared simple. Great excitement prevailed and the tension wa.s increased when, with only five runs needed, Anthony’s wicket fell, but Bowley, who- had been the mainstay of his side, scored the, remaining -runs, making the winning, hit with a delightful square cut to the boundary. Badc-oc-k and Henderson were the opening bowlers and Anthony raisedthe first cheer with a pretty stroke, past mid-off, which produced a- well run three. Bowley got a two to mid-on, two- balls later and after a maiden over, by Henderson, Bowley evoked further enthusiasm with a delightful hook off the Wellington, professional. Singles continued to- come fairly rapidly, Henderson proving the more expensive of the. two bowlers. With the total at 15.7 Brice replaced Henderson and bowled much faster than in any of his previous turns. Bowley got a two with. a. cliairaateristic shot to leg and four more singles followed, but with the last hall of his over Brice completely beat Anthony with, a ball which took his off stump. Five runs were- still needed. 194—7—13. The partnership had put ou 45 runs. A maiden over by Badcoek followed and Brice’s- next turn failed to- produce a run, Bowley got a- single off Bad cock and two more with a straight- drive, off Brice. Then with, a beautiful -square cut to the boundary off the same bowler, lie brought Aucklands -score to 201 and an interesting match concluded. It was appropriate that- the first four of the day should be the winning hit and equally -appropriate that Bowley, who had done so well throughout, -honk! be thp ■.-successful batsman. He was given a gi mi I ovation at trie close of the match

It.-whng analysis (’Auckland, second innings).—Lambert two wickets for/ IS run:', Brice two- for 33. Badcoek two for 33. Henderson one for 59. Hidd’eiston none for 7. McGirr none for 25. NOTES ON THE MATCH. THE SHIELD TO AUCKLAND. This match, being between the two unbeaten teams in the Piunket Shield competition and two rivals in all sport for over 50 years, is naturally the most important of the season, and will probably prove to be a .strong factor in the selection of the team for England. The selectors of the team are in Auckland watching the form of the members of both teams. In each there are players pretty certain to be representatives of the Dominion in England. Curiously enough the Wellington team, with a reputation hacked by consistent performances as the strongest batting- side in the Dominion, failed very badly in the first innings. Had it not- been for Brice coming to light for the ninth and tenth wicket partnerships with James and Henderson, the innings would have been deplorably small. As it was these three were responsible for nearly doubling the score, taking it from 96 to 182. Auckland, aftpr a verv satisfactory opening, rather tailed off, and five of the team did very little. But the rest all made, substantial scores, and the result was a verv useful lead of 125.

Well ington. on going in for tire second time, opened disastrously, the first- two goi.ng for three runs, mid then came the remarkable stand hy Kortlnng and Lowrv, and later hy MeGirr and Badcook, resulting in a. score of 323.. and giving Auckland 203 to set to win. Of the first eight wickets l Rowley alone made many runs, and the English professional has come to light ata very opportune time. He has notso far shone- very much at- a ba.ts-ma-u. hut he was instrumental in saving Auckland from a collapse on this occasion. Lowrv, hy his century in the second innings and his undoubted ability behind the stumps, must be a strong candidate for the big tour. To Rowlev must be given a great deal of credit for a- wonderful innings ius't when runs were needed and when tlje match temperament is seriously tested. And to him went the double honour of making the bulk of the ”ims- and also of scoring the winning hit.