OXFORD WINS MATCH

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27092, 28 May 1949, Page 7

OXFORD WINS MATCH

New Zealand Suffers First Defeat MARGIN OF 83 RUNS Rec. 1.30 a.m. OXFORD, May 27. Oxford won the match against New Zealand by 83 1311ns, New Zealand being dismissed before lunch for 126. This is the team’s first defeat of its English tour. The game opened sensationally when J. Reid was out first ball with the score at 45. Wallace arrived to find the ball jumping. There was a high wind blowing and no rain had fallen overnight. After J. A. Cave batted pluckily for 25 minutes and had off-driven P. A. Whitcombe for a lovely boundary he was out leg before to Wrigley to a ball which kept low. M. P. Donnelly arriyed with the score at 64 for seven.

Donnelly was given a great reception by the crowd. A former Oxford University captain, he is immensely popular here. He began by pulling Wrigley to leg for two, then pulling G. A. Chesterton, the off-spinner, for four.

Meanwhile, Wallace was batting with magnificent aggression. Determined not to let the bowlers continue to remain on top, he pulled Whitcombe for three, drove Wrigley back past the wickets for three, arid then hit Whitcombe straight to the sight screen for four. With both Wallace and Donnelly there New Zealand is by no means beaten.

After batting magnificently for three-quarters of an hour, Donnelly played on to an in-swinger from the left-hander, Kardar. With Wallace, he'had added 49 runs, scoring 32 himself, the majority of them perfectlytimed pulls on the leg side. Wallace took another nasty crack on his thumb, but continued batting aggressively, and square-drove Whitcombe for four. was bouncing all ways on this wicket. He was eventually removed by a catch off Wrigley by Whitcombe, and Kardar held a ball from Smith off Whitcombei to finish the match. \