AUSTRALIA WINS BY 377.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17661, 23 December 1920, Page 7

AUSTRALIA WINS BY 377.

FIFTH DAY ENDS MATCH. ENGLISHMEN OUT FOR 281. RHODES SCORES 45. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. (Received 11.5 p.m.) A. and N.Z. SYDNEY, Dec. 22. The first test match was concluded today, Australia winning by 377 runs. The fifth day's play commenced in hot weather, the wicket wearing excellently. Hobbs, 18 from the previous day, and Hearne. 23, settled down to cautious batting, declining to touch anything except loose deliveries. Mailey, who was not utilised the previous afternoon, failed to terrify the j batsmen, Hobbs lifting one over the fence j to long-on. Armstrong then endeavoured to separate the pair, his first over being j a maiden. In the following over Hobbs scored a single'off the Australian skipper. bringing England's score up to 100. Hobbs then stepped across the wicket to place Armstrong to on, but the bowler sent down one of his famous straight breaks and got Hobbs leg-before-wicket. Hendren opened his account by driving a ball from Armstrong to square-leg and the fence, but he immediately slackened again. Opposing Mailey, he despatched the first ball to the boundary, but played back for the remainder of the over. After luncheon the batsmen were again adopting cautious methods, until Gregory broke through Hearne's defence with a splendidly-pitched ball which took his off stump. Woolley hit Mailey for three fours, but in playing forward he missed j the ball with his foot raised from the crease, Oldfield effecting a smart piece of stumping. The score was then 170 runs for four wickets. The advent of Douglas created interest in view of the English skipper's discomfort. Facing Mailey, he hit ut at the last ball of the over, which was delivered outside the .leg stump, and Armstrong, standing at short fine leg, a few yards from the stumps, brilliantly accepted a remarkably hot catch. Douglas was the most surprised man on the ground, and remained in the crease until the umpire was officially appealed to. When given out he pointed to the ground, indicating a bump ball, the crowd ridiculing the contention, as Douglas set out for the pavilion. Rhodes forced the pace when opposed to Mailey. hitting several boundaries in the first couple of overs. The 200 mark was reached after 211 minutes of play, Hendren later registering SO as a result of 104 minutes of patient batting. On resuming after tea. Armstrong tried Gregory and Kelleway. The latter, in his first over, finding Hendren's middle peg. The score was then 231 runs for five wickets. Rhodes shaping confidently, executed several fine all-round-the-wicket shots, but exercised as much caution as if the match was hanging in the balance. Taylor, in the out-field, earned applause j by cutting off boundaries. His work throughout the match was of the highest class. Hitch daringly hit out to Gregory, lifting the ball safely to out-field for two. When 19 he stepped down the wicket to | Australia's fast bowler, and hit the ball hard to Taylor at extra mid-on. Taylor making a fine catch. Armstrong replaced Gregory with Mailey, whose first ball was a full toss. Rhodes hit it over the bowler's head, and the catch was taken by Ryder, Parkin hit Kelleway to Macartney at extra mid-off, but that usually safe fieldsman dropped the catch. Two balls later, Kelleway bowled Parkin's middle peg, closing England's second innings for 281. Australia thus won by 377 runs Scores :— AUSTRALIA. First Innings ... .... ... 267 Second Innings ... .... 532 ENGLAND. First Innings ... ... ... jgg Second Innings. Russell, c. Oldfield, b. Gregory ... 5 Hobbs, 1.b.w., b. Armstrong 59 Hearne, b. Gregory 57 Hendren, b. Kelleway ... ... . . 56 Woolley, st. Oldfield,"" b. Mailey ... 16 Douglas, c. Armstrong, b. .Mailey ... 7 Rhodes, c. Ryder, b. Mailey ... ... -45 Hitch, c. Taylor, b. Gregory 19 Waddington, b. Kelleway 3 Parkin, b. Kelleway 4 Strudwick, not out 1 Extras 9 Total ~281 The wickets fell as follows:—One for 5, two for 105. three for 149, four for 170, five for 178, six for 231. seven for 264, eight for 271, nine for 279, ten for 281. Bowling Analysis: Gregory took three wickets for 70 runs; Kelleway, three lor 45; Mailey, three for 105; Armstrong, one for 21; Ryder, none for 24; Macart : ney, none for 1. ARMSTRONG'S TRIUMPH. ONE OF HIS BEST INNINGS. A. and N.Z. SYDNEY, Dec. 22. The Sydney Daily Telegraph commenting on Tuesday's play, says that the strength of the English bowling seems to lie in the fact that, while it is not quite' good enough to produce sensational re- , suits, it is good enough to reduce rungetting to a minimum. The newspaper adversely criticises the running of the Australians between the wickets, and estimates that in Monday's play they lost , over 40 safe runs from this cause, but , apparently the tragedy of three run-outs on the first day had left its impress. Paying a tribute to the English fielding, it says that between thfem Hitch, Hendren and Hobbs must have robbed Bardsley, whose innings is described as the sweetest he has played for some time, of a 100 runs. The Sydney Morning Herald say s -that Armstrong's batting on Tuesday quite overshadowed all else in the game, and was one of the finest knocks in his career. He took toll cf all the bowlers with equal ease, while developing no special hostility. The bowling for the most' part commanded considerable respect. The English fielding to some extent showed the effect of the long and tiring outing in the field. The Sydney Daily Telegraph describes Armstrong's innings as one of the greatest test match efforts of all time. It made the bowling look foolish.