NEW ZEALAND CRICKET TEAM BEATS WORCESTER TO REGISTER FIRST WIN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27078, 12 May 1949, Page 7

NEW ZEALAND CRICKET TEAM BEATS WORCESTER TO REGISTER FIRST WIN

New Zealand Press Association—Copyright Rec 9 p.m. LONDON, May 10. 1 By defeating Worcestershire by 150 runs, the New Zealand cricket team registered the first win of its tour at Worcester to-day. •

A definite powdering of the Worcester wicket after lunch was an important factor in New Zealand’s victory. It allowed Burtt to turn the ball more sharply than at any other time during the match and beat the bastmen repeatedly. When Jackson joined Howarth for the last wicket stand, Burtt had taken seven for 52. The last six overs cost him 50 runs, and during that time Howorth, who made 62, was dropped twice off Burtt, once when he was five and the second time when he was 46. With luck, the Canterbury man would have had eight for 56.

Mooney matched Burtt’s . bowling by an excellent performance behind the stumps. His anticipation in catching Wyatt and Yarnold was brilliant. It was a pity that dropped catches occurred at the end of Worcester’s innings, for the New Zealanders had fielded faultlessly as a whole, particularly Hadlee and Wallace, .who • were outstanding. Wallace shopped several drives at silly mid-off which had the full weight of bat and body behind them. Any doubts raised about the team's fielding during the practice matches at Eastbourne, where the spirit of competition was lacking, has now evaporated. The total attendance for the three days was in the vicinity of 14,000. The receipts were £ll3O gross, or about £1 for every minute of playing time. Burtt and Mooney, who contributed the major share to New Zealand’s victory, combined to take five wickets, Mooney holding three catches off the Canterbury slow left-armer and stumping two more Worcester men. , The’®’.-Wellington wicket-keeper also ;tpQk ijLcatch from Hayes, giving him He nearly if he had put him into -wicket-keep-seven wickets *• .'Opening ' Cdoper and 'Bird started brightly for Worcester, treating Hayes and Reid disrespectfully, but facing Cresswell with caution and reserve. They put on 40. in 35 minutes, until the first appearance of Burtt for the day changed thp whole tempo of the prelunch play. He had bowled a consistent length th£ day before, and now he regarded any ebullience as unseemly. He extracted Cooper from his crease and Mooney was lightning. Kenyon stayed 23 minutes for one run, then flicked at a rising ball from Hayes as it was going away. Mooney was triumphant. Only five runs were added by Worcester in 20 minutes.

Burtt, stolid and square, kept pegging away and beat Bird with a leg break. He had his most expensive period when Wyatt and Outschoorn took 13 from him in one over.' The West Indian, however, paid for his eagerness to savour the Canterbury left-hander and for the third time Mooney appealed successfully. Burke looked sorrowful after a confident appeal against Wyatt, and lunch came with 112 for four. Worcester started to go downhill 10 minutes after the meal, when Jenkins played on to Hay6s. Within the next 20 minutes two more wickets were down, Mooney and Burtt reaching the peak of their performance by getting Wyatt and Arnold in one over. In Burtt's next over Mooney caught White, who in the intervening period was dropped on the boundary by-Sut-cliffe. The Aucklander seemed partly unsighted by the spectators. It was bad luck for Burke, who had been striving hard. Perks appeared prepared to repeat his performance of yesterday and scored 13 in five minutes before Wallace put an end to such light-hearted-ness by taking a catch, again off Burtt. With one wicket to fall and two hours to play, Worcester were palpably beaten. Howarfh and Jackson, however, provided the crowd with 35 minutes of happy cricket, hitting four 6’s between them and adding 59. Howarth was dropped on the boundary, again by Sutcliffe, and Mooney leapt to a wide one only to see the ball bounce from his hand. The end came when Howarth decided to run after a fruitless leg-before appeal by Burtt, and Jackson was ignominiously run out. This last half-hour gave the crowd considerable entertainment, and Worcester Cathedral carillon added to the variety by chiming “ The Minstrel Boy to the War Has Gone " for the second time during the day.