PLUNKET SHIELD

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23692, 27 December 1938, Page 14

PLUNKET SHIELD

WELLINGTON v. OTAGO VISITORS' HEAVY TASK BIG SCORE BY NORTHERNERS CENTURIES TO TWO COLTS (Per United Press ..Association) WELLINGTON, Dec. 26. At the end of the second day's play in the Plunket Shield cricket match, Wellington versus Ota,go, this afternoon, Wellington had established a commanding lead. On Saturday Wellington had first ase of the wicket, and were not too happy with five down for 116 at the luncheo. adjournment. A splendid stand by two colts—J. A. Ongley and W. G. liainbird —after lunch, however, which added 180 for the sixth wicket redeenjed the earlier batting failures. Both >pf these youthful playera registered their first centuries in Plunket Shield ciicket. Another useful stand by two Manawatu players—N. Gallichan and T. L. Pritchard —helped the score along, and when rain stopped play at 5.15 on Saturday afternoon the scor D stood at 379 for seven wickets. Heavy rain this morning prevented play being resumed till 1.45 p.m. The Wellington innings was closed for 407. Otago could total only 118 in their first innings against brilliant bowling by Pritchard (seven for 32). Following on, Otago lost two Ifor 23. When the match is resumed to-mor-row morning, Otago., with eight wickets in hand, will roquire to' score 268 runs to avoia an innings defeat. Wellington at the Wickets E. W. Tindill, the Wellington captain, won the toss. Tindill and Rice put on 35 for the first wicket, when Rice, who had scored Vi in an uncertain manner, was bowlled by Elmes. The Otago fast-medium bowlers, Silver, Purdue, and Leader, al* kept a good length, and Elrrfes was flighting his left-handed slows. Rums were difficult to get. Sheffield, tlae professional coach, helped his car.ta?fn to carry the score to 75 when Tindill, who had shaped confidently for 4£, was bowled by a beautiful ball from Silver. With two runs added. Sheffield, who had reached 18, spooled one from Elmes softly intc Uttley's naiads at cover. Ell, who joined Harpur,> was impetuous, and after hitting a couple of 4's, played one from Silver softly to Uttley at mid-on, four wickets; being down for 87. Otago's Smart Fielding The Otago captain apipeared to act as a magnet to the ball, and he called up applause by brilliant fielding at cover. The Otago field'ing was good. Mills doing neat and ftffective work with the gloves. Ongley. the University colt, who was making his first appearance in a Plunket Shield match, followed, and he and Harpur carried tlje total to 100. which was ■ reached in 109 minutes. With the total 116 Harpur, who had been battisg for half an hour for a dozen, war bowled by a ;?ood one from Robertson. The luncheon adjournment was taken with the board showing 116 for five wickets. The Otago bowlers had done a good morning's work. A Stirring Partnership A good crowd was present in the afternoon and had the pleasure of seeing the two colts, J. A. Ongley and W. G. Rainbird, redeem the batting failures of the morning by holding possession of the wickets fjrom 1.45 p.m. till 3.45 p.m., in which lame they carried the total from 116 to 296, adding 180 for the sixth wicket iin 120 minutes. The wisdom of giving th<fc colts a chance in big cricket was amply proved during this stirring partnership. The merit of -heir performance was enhanced by the fact that the Otago bowlers, heartened by <fcheir successes in the morning's play, were bowling well, and the fieldsmeia were giving nothing away. Apart , from narrow escapes in the slips, the colts played finished cricket. Ongley was the more enterprising of the pair. One hundred and fifty came up for 141. minutes' play, and 200 was reached in 172 minutes. Ongley reached his century in 149 minutes. With the total ait 296 Ongley, who had reached 110, litfted a full toss from Groves into Eraser's hands at deep mid-on. Another good stand wras made when Gallichan joined Rainbird. The bowling was better than at any period of the day, and the pair had to go steadily for some time. Three hundred appeared at 4.9 p.m., and Rainbird reached his century, out added only a couple when he was. well taken at second slip by Cutler off Purdue. Seven wickets were now down for 350. Rain Stops Play Pritchard joined GalUichan and the Manawatu pair started to score freely. They had taken the score to 379 for seven wickets when heavy rain from the north put an end to play at 5.15 p.m. Innings Closes For 409 The game was not resumed till 1.45 p.m. to-day. Heavy rain from the south on Sunday nigbt and early this morning had thoroughly saturated the wicket. A strong sum and a cool blustering southerly wind had dried out the pitch and the outfield. When play was resumed Silver and Elmes took up the bowling. Pritchard lifted Elmes's second ball out of the ground for six. The last ball in Elmes's over Pritchard lifted into leaser's hands at long-on, but the catch was dropped By banging Elmes to the boundary Pritchard brought 400 up for 330 minutes' play, but was caught behind the wickets by Mills off the next ball. Pritchard had hit frctfaly for 35. McKeown joined Gallichan, who was 43, and Groves took the ball from Silver. McKeown was stumped by Mills off Groves's first ball, nine wickets being down for 407. Ashenden, the last man, joined Gallichan and the innings, which had occupied 344 minutes, closed at 2.15 pm. for 409 when Gallichan was well caught by Knight off Elmes without adding to his score of 50. Elmes, with four wnokets for 97 ofl 18.4 overs, came out with the best bowling figures for Otajgo, followed by Silver (two for 63 off 18 overs), and Groves (two for 78 off JLB overs) Purdue and Leader also worked hard without meeting with nauch success dago's Quick Dismissal Uttley, the Otago captaar*, and Robertson opened Otago's first innings at 2.30 p.m. to the bowling of Ptitchard and Ashenden. The batsmen started quietly. Rice relieved Ashenden with the total at 34, and Robertson, who had reached 15. was clean bowled by Pritchard. Leader joined Uttley, but; was clean bowled first ball by Pritchani Knight averted the hat-trick, but did not last long, as before opening his account he was bowled by Eice. three wickets being down for 35*. Cutler joined his captain, and arrived to see Uttley play one from Pritchard on to his wicftet four wickets being down for 35. Elmes came next. With tin? total at 39 Cutler was caught and bowled by Rice. Fraser came in, and, after actoring t< couple, played one from Pritchnrd on to his wicket, six being down for 42. Ashenden relieved Rice, wl'ao had taken two wickets for seven rims ofT four overs. Mills joined Elmc.B and

McKeown took the ball from Pritchard, who had taken four wickets for 14 off nine overs. The tea adjournment was taken with the score at 47 for six wickets. Fifty was reached in 80 minutes. The batsmen were now shaping more confidently. Pritchard replaced McKeown. and the last ball of the over bowled Elmes, who had batted patiently for 23. Groves joined Mills, who was 18, and another useful stand was made. Mills doing most of the scoring. The hundred came up after 119 minutes. Gallichan came on for the first time, relieving Ashenden. and Rice took the ball from Pritchard. With the total at 109. Mills, who had shaped resolutely for 37, fell Ibw to Gallichan. Purdue was bowled by Pritchard after scoring a single, and nine wickets were down for 110. Silver, the last man in, joined Groves, who was eight, and the total was taken to 118, when Silver was caught by Sheffield at mid-off off Pritchard. The innings lasted 150 minutes. Pritchard bowled splendidly, capturing seven wickets for 32 off 15.7 overs. Rice also kept a good length, taking two wickets for 11 off six overs. The Wellington fielding was clean and smart, and Tindill kept wickets well and handled the bowlers with iudgment. A Hopeless Task With a deficit of 291, on the first innings, Otago followed on, Uttley and Robertson again being the opening batsmen. Ashenden clean bowled Robertson with the fifth ball of the opening- over, the first wicket falling with six runs on. Knight came next. With the total at 17, Uttley was smartly taken with a left-handed catch by Harpur off Ashenden. Ashenden had taken two wickets for 11 runs. Mills and Knight played out time, the score when stumps were drawn being 23 for two wickets. Ashenden bowled well, taking two wickets for 13 runs off five overs, none of the batsmen being at home to his deliveries. WELLINGTON First Innings E. W. Tindill. b Silver 46 H. F. Rice, b Elmes 13 J. R Sheffield, c Uttley, b Elmes .. 18 T. A. Harpur. b Robertson .. .. 12 J. Ell, c Uttley, b Silver .. .. 10 J- A. Ongley, c Fraser, b Groves ..110 W. G. Rainbird, c Cutler, b Purdue 102 N. Gallichan, c Knight, b Elmes .. 50 T. L. Pritchard, c Mills, b Elmes .. 35 J. McKeown, st Mills, b Groves .. 1 J. Ashenden. not out .... I Extras (byes 9, leg byes 1, nol balls 1) 11 Total 409 Fall of Wickets.—One for 35, two for 75, three for 77, four for 87, five for 116, six for 296, seven for 350, eight for 400, nine for 407, ten for 409.

AUCKLAND v. CANTERBURY A SLOW-SCORING GAME GOOD TOTAL BY HADLEE MATCH IN INTERESTING POSITION (Per United Press Association) CHRISTCHURCH, Dec. 26. After two days' play, the Plunket Shield cricket match between Auckland, the present holder of the trophy, and Canterbury is in a very interesting position. Canterbury, which batted first on Saturday, made a fair total of 254 runs and, when play ended to-day, Auckland had made 156 for the loss of five wickets. There have been few bright spots so far and, taken all round, play has been rather slow, a total of 410 runs only having been scored in about eight hours. The weather on both days did not favour fast scoring, Saturday being dull with rain falling in the late stages of the Canterbury innings and a bad light stopping play half an hour before the scheduled time. The wicket all day was dead and gave no assistance to the Auckland bowlers. Rain on Sunday and this morning made it impossible to start play till this afternoon, and the wicket helped the spin bowlers for a period. Hadlee, with 92, was top scorer for Canterbury, but it was not a good innings for him. He was dropped twice early and some of. his drives were lifted just out of reach of the fieldsmen. Roberts batted well for his 57. He made powerful drives on both sides of the wicket, and the only time he did not appear confident was when facing Cowie. Donnelly, however, has played the best innings to date. Brilliant footwork and ciuick running between the wickets were seen while he was batting, and it might have oeen better if some of the others had followed his example. Like Hadlee. Wallace nad two chances early, but his defence was sound, and he made some good strokes all round the wicket. Whitelaw was safe but slow, but both Postles and Weir should have been out much sooner than they were. Cowie, who earned for himself a fine reputation as a fast bowler on the tour of England last year, was easily the best of the visiting bowlers. His five wickets for 60 runs off 23 overs was a good performance. He did not gain his fastest till late in the day, but he had all the batsmen watching him carefully. His length was consistently good, and he swung appreciably at times. Matheson and Vivian were other stock bowlers used. Neither was as impressive as Cowie, but thev wore not easy to score from Matheson kept a good length and varied his flight and pace cleverly Sneddon needed watching, and G L. Weir proved a useful change. The Auckland captain, Postles, had his field well placed for cutting off the runs Ho set a fine example by his own clean work, he and Wallace standiiu> out in a side which made few mistakes apart from two early easy catches which were dropped. The Canterbury bowlers did well to pin down (he strong Auckland batting side to such a slow rate of scoring. The wicket in the early part of the afternoon certainly helped the spin bowlers, but poor footwork by some of the visiting batsmen was also a factor

The left-handers, Bellamy and Donnelly, were used most. Bellamy had all the batsmen on the defensive He appeared to be getting most assistance from the wicket and deserved better figures. Donnelly also bowled well and was little inferior to Bellamy. The conditions did not suit E. Mulcock, who, however, was never expensive—a remark that also applies to Davis. Roberts was not used till late, but he got two good wickets cheaply. He was coming off the wicket quickly and had all the batsmen very subdued.

The Canterbury ground fielding was generally good, with Donnelly saving many runs. Two misses marred an otherwise good display by Mulcock. It was in'catching that Canterbury failed, at least four chances being dropped. Scores" - ™" CANTERBURY First Innings Hadlee, lbw, b Weir 82 Bellamy, c Wallace, b Cowie .. .. 0 Stokes, b Vivian 23 Kerr, c and b Weir .. .. .. •• 1* Roberts, b Matheson .•' 57 Donnelly, lbw, b Cowie <« Menzies, b Matheson g Cromb, b Cowie .. .. ..■'•• • • » Webb, c Jackman, b Cowie .. .. g Davis, lbw, b Cowie .. .. • • • • ° Mulcock, not out « Extras XB Total .. .. 254 Bowling Analysis O. M. R. W. Cowie .. .. 23.6 3 60 5 Matheson ..22 2 71 2 Vivian ..20 6 56 1 Snedden ..7 Weir .... 6 AUCKLAND First Innings Whitelaw, lbw, b Bellamy .. .. 36 Postles, c Mulcock, b Donnelly .. 21 Wallace, not out 50 Scott, c Bellamy, b Roberts .. 9 Vivian, c and b Roberts .. •• 6 Weir, run out «» Extras n Total for five wickets .. 156

Bowling Analysis O. M. R. W. Silver .. .... 18 2 63 2 Purdue .... 22 1 93 1 Elmes 18.4 1 97 4 Leader .... 19 1 53 — Groves .... 19 1 78 2 Robertson .. 3 — 14 1 OTAGO First Innings K. F. M. 'Jttley, b Pritchard .. , .. 15 G. J. Robertson, b Pritchard .. , .. 15 V. J. Leader, b Pritchard .. , ,. 0 A. R. Knight, b Rice .. .. , .. 0 A. H. S. Cutler, c and b Rice . .. 2 C. J. Elmes, b Pritchard .. 23 T. Fraser, b Pritchard .. ,. 2 G. Mills, lbw, b Gallichan .. . ,. 37 L. J. Groves, not out .. 9 J. Purdue, b Pritchard ... 1 R. Silver, c Sheffield, b Pritchard 6 Extras (byes 1, leg byes 7) . 8 Total ,. 118 Fall of Wickets—One for 34, two for 34, three for 35, four for 35, five for 39. six for 42, seven for 81. eight for 109. nine for 110, ten for 118 Bowling Analysis. O. M. R. W. Pritchard .. .. 15.7 2 32 7 Ashenden .. .. 12 — 42 — Rice 6 1 11 .2 McKeown .... 4 — 20 — Gallichan .... 4 — 5 1 Second Innings Uttlcy, c Harpur, b Ashenden . 4 Robertson, b Ashenden 3 . 13 . 3 Total for two wickets .. . . 23 Fall of Wickets—One for 6. two for 1 *7 1 I. Bowling Analysis 0. M. R. W. Ashenden .. •• 5 1 13 Pritchard .... 3 — 1U 2 Gallichan .... 1 l —

Bowling Analysis 0. M. R. W. Davis .. .. 9 4 15 — Mulcock .. 15 6 17 — Bellamy .. 18 1 43 1 Donnelly .. 20 6 47 1 Cromb .. 2 — 5 — Roberts .. 9 3 18 2