PLUNKET SHIELD MATCH.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19542, 22 January 1927, Page 12

PLUNKET SHIELD MATCH.

OPENING DAY SURPRISES. WELLINGTON OUT FOR 182. ! GREAT EFFORT BY BRICE. HOME TEAM FOUR FOR 146. Surprise followed surprise in the final Plunket Shield match of the season between Wellington :«nd -Auckland, comEdem Pavk'-ycsterday' morning. Wellington,' witli''lts team of great;.'batsmen, unexpectedly failed to- ranks the showing expected of it on a, wicket that was fast and true and apparently all in favour of the batsmen. Eight wickets fell for 96 and it was only tho excellent partnerships of W. S. Brice, tho captain, with K. C. James and M. Hendcr--son, that.the final score was advanced to 182. B rico himself made 61, a most meritorious performance. When stumps were drawn for the day, Auckland had made 146 for four, J. E. Mills being top scorer with 63, The not-out roes are C. C. Dacre, fl3, and. G.: F. W,. A-lleott, 4. The bowling of the Auckland icam exceeded all expectations. E. 11. Bowley was in excellent form wuli the ball and in six overs captured four wickets for 27 runs. At one stage his tally was four for seven. A. M. Matheson took three for. 73, A. S. Player, two for 24 and C. F. W. Allcott one for 33. The fieldingwas keen, and Itowntree behind the stumps was as good as ever. He stumped one, caught two and only one ball passed him for , byes. . -The match will be continued at eleven o'clock this morning. " . The Kun of the ,Play. When Hiddleston and Worker commenced playing cautiously to .the bowling of • Matheson "and Allcott- no one expected -a sensational opening. Both bowlers' struck a length early and Matheson was getting a lot. of life, into his deliveries. However, JHiddlcston scored off an occasional erratic ball from him, but Allcdti'k^pt'Worker strictly.on the defensive. Both batsmen missed chances of scoring on the off, but bojji, and lliddleston in particular, were -bright outside the leg stump. Tho score was taken slowly to 25 before Worker' took his first strike to 1 Mathe'gon, having 'faced three maiden oVm:fr6m'Ailcott."'*A ball from the young University player;' who was swinging them down well, kicked up a little, the batsman tipped it and Rowntree took a beautiful catch. , •

Two of the finest- batsmen at present playing in New Zealand were next associated— Kortlang and lliddleston —and the crowd settled down jn anticipation of patient cricket. .lliddleston was slow but sure. He demonstrated /his line shot through thp slips and occasionally forced one round to in good However, it was this shot, combined with the astute geu.erjilship o£; Daci'c» which resulted in the loss ; of- his wicket. . TKe Auckland captain made a sudden change in his bowling, replacing Allcott with Player. Player appeared to bo pitching tho bowl somewhat short, but was swinging a little. lliddleston tried W ;! fb>po\'oni), :, live stroke was.a little uppish, and a roar from tho crowd signified that Anthony, at short Ifg had snapped up a brilliant catch. Lowry and Kortlang Go. [' "Lowry joined Kortlang , and welcomed tjio nejet, ciiajiga •in the bowling. He went out to' the leg breaks, of,Sneddon, who relieved> : Matheson and 'Wjth clean shots to the leg bouudaryniit" lt pff 0110. over. But his career was also' a short . one. ' Player It'ad 'bOen sending them down swinging from leg, but he'swung in one tliat camfe from-the off. IxAvry played \ all over it and three of Wellington's best batsmen were down for 63. A period of slow cricket followed when James .joined Kortlang. The bajtsmpn, intent on improving their side's poor position declined to tako any risks and Dacre decided on a double change, reverting to Matheson and giving Bowley his first chance with tho bail against a Wellington side. ' Once again his tactics tnet with success. " Bowley threw up V full-toss, spinning a Jpt, to Kortlang ahs.tho batsman forgot'his stonewalling and hit out at "it. lis mishit' the spinning ball.' which went right up ifi' th,ci" ; air for Snedden .to take a catch. The impossible had been accompiislied-t^four of the team's besf batsmen wore out for 78. '

Tfre, next pair, Jam<!£ and McGirr, have & considerable reputation in Wellington for smart running, between the ' wickets, .but an attempt to sneak n single saw James nearly run out. McGirr was not comfortable to Brjwley, and James, although he was on the whole sound, was making far too many mishits to score well. The crowd as well as the players was keved tin with excitement,and a shout

went up as McGirr joined what' was degenerating into almost a procession. A ball from Matheson made pace from the wicket and werifrtwily'ft'little. The batsman put it up into-the slips and Anthony who, with Bovvley, had been fielding exrellentlv, took his second catch. ~ Three More to Bow ley.

Just before the • luncheon adjournment further disaster befell 'Wellington. Badcock was inclined to go forward and feci for Bowley's breaks. He did this once too often, for one spun, sharply from leg, the batsman tipped it and Rowntree lived up to his reputation. Six wickets bad fallen for 94, Badcoek having scored 6. After lunch the procession continued. Lambert went in with James and made a single before driving one from Bowloy hard to Allcott at deep mid-off, The fieldsman took a perfect catch. James seemed th« only one who could play with restraint, for Uollings tost bis wicket almost immediately through being-too impetuous, ■ He dashed out to hit. Bowley, but the-coach had flighted the breaking bail beautifully. The batsman missed and Rowntree whipped off the bails. Eight wickets had fallen, the score was still four short of the fisst hundred, and Bfwley had taken four wickets for 7. Bowley had been bowling with excellent judgment, mixing his deliveries well and flighting them beautifully. However, tinWellington captain, Brice. used his long reach to go out to the coach and hit him hard. He played some crisp off drives, tut it was his fcrcmc pull-shot that met With most results.. However, he. could not bit Bowley cleanly, and some'of his shots fnight ■ ; easily-f have■ bfcn 'hitches before Dacro took the coach off. James was plaving with rock-like defence, but occasionally he flashed out with a pretty cover drive. Brice's Determined Stand. Brice was manifestly'uneasy to one over from Matheson, the you:.,; Unsversitv player making the ball nip disconeerlinsilv. and he sent up a lo Sneddon, it was not an easy one and the Ponsonby player missed it after getting two hands to the ball. Another change was tried to break the most productive partnership of thA match. Player relieving . Mathesdij The separation;' w,Vs. oftsc'ted; by " Atteott. who terminated .TsmY*s hour-and-n-fi'a'if siav bv retting him leg-before vhVket. Wellington's tail continued to was with the advent of Henderson, He was content to leave most of the br.wiing to Brice, and the veteran took any opportunity of that presented itself. H*> reached 60 with a neat shot through the shp*. The final partnership was an .excellent one, with Brice standing op to the bowling 18 k"°ts. The pair showed good judg-

ment'in running between the wickets. Anything on the short J'ido was treated with scant respect, but with the total at 181 a bright and forceful innings was brought to a close when Brice played Matheson on to his wicket. He had made 61 in a style singularly refreshing and set off to advantage when compared with the defensive play of the other batsmen. Auckland Opens Well. It did not take long for Auckland's opening pair, Bowley and Mills, to settle down. The former opened brightly, using his beautiful forcing leg-shot to get Badcock's second ball to the leg boundary. Ho continued in the same styie, scoring easily off Badcock arid McGirr and putting plenty of force behind his back shots, tin was not as strong on the off as is usual with him. Henderson was soon brought on in place of Badcock, but he could not reduce the rate of scoring. Both batsmen were infusing plenty of freedom into their play, and Mills, although he was making his runs chiefly behind the wicket, was better on the off than his partner. Once ho showed a powerful shot in swinging Henderson to the leg boundary. A double change was tried in the bowling, lliddleston and Badcock coming on. The former put a temporary check on the rate of scoring, but runs continuod to come in even time. Badcock was not difficult and Brice replaced him for an over before the tea adjournment, but was not successful. The scoring slackened down somewhat on resumption. Throughout Bowley had experienced some difficulty in -getting on to the off-balls cleanly and' Mills' best shots could not find gaps in a-well-placed field.' The score reached 1 69 before a separation was effected. Bowley did not look like going out, but he played forward to an overpitched one from Badcock, straight-driving it, and the bowler took a beautiful catch low down. Wickets Fall Rapidly. The next man, Snedden, opened cautiously, while Mills was very steady, keeping a keen lookout-for the occasional ball that kept low. Snedden soon commenced to brighten up and brought the first century on the board with a nico glance to the leg boundary off Badcock. Ho was batting well, his cutting being a. feature, but with his score at 28 ho did not put enough power behind a full-toss from Jvambort, and was caught by McGirr at deep square leg. Mills, joined by Cooper, brought his half-ccntury up by swinging Lambert to leg, but then lost his olnb-mate. Cooper drove Hollings hard to mid-on and Brice took a great one-handed catch, turning round to get the ball before it .reached the ground,

Three wickets had fallen fox 1 116 when Dacro camo in,. Ho was unusually cautious to start, but when Henderson camo on lie attempted to force the pace, lie mishit one to mid-011, but Lowry was standing a little too deep. Both lie and Hollirigs lushed for the ball, but collided and the catch went begging. In the same over Dacre gave Badcock a chance in the slips, but the fieldsman failed to hold a hard catch. Henderson was now bowling well, if a trifle erratically, and in his next over he puzzled Mills with several balls that appeared to lie swinging from the off. One of these Mills missed, and it went off his pads on to his wicket. With four wickets clown for 138, the promise of a big first innings score made by the good opening did not look like being realised. Allcott, the next man* was not comfortable—the light was not exceptionally good—but tho score was taken to 146 without further loss before stumps wore drawn for the day. Following are the scores:— WELLINGTON. First Innings, J. S. lliddleston,. c Anthony, b flayer .. ... . . 27, 11. V. Dell. Worker, c Rowntree, b Matheson . . . . . , 8 B. J. Kortlang, c Sneddon, b Bowley 10 T. C. Lowry, b Player . , ... 13 K. C. James, lbw, b Allcott . . . £JS 11. M. McGirr, c Anthony, b Matheson ;. . . •. . 4 F. T. Badcock, c Rowntree, b Bowley . . . , . 6 11. N. Lambert, c Allcott, b Bowley I A. M, flollings, st Rowntree, b Bowley ... . . , # 0 W. S. Brice, b Matheson . „ . . 61 M. Henderson, .rtot out . „ , 13 Extras . . . . . , „; ' 5 Total .. BOWLING ANALYSIS. . •0. M. \V. U. E. ft, Bowley 6 A. M. Matheson ... 19 2 3 73 A. S, Player . . 9 22 24 "3- F. W. Allcott . . 12 3 1 33 N. C. Sneddon 3 : AUCKLAND.; , , . First Innings. E, 11. Bowley, c and b Badcock . . ' 33 J E. Mills, b Henderson . . . . 63 N. C. Snedden, c McGirr, b Lam-' bei't . . . . . . . gg LW. Cooper, c Brice, b Lambert ! 0 0, C. Dacre, not out 13 G, F. W. Allcott, not out . . .. 4 Extras . . , . r _. 5

Total for four wickets . . ,■, 146