PONSONBY WINS HOME

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 521, 26 November 1928, Page 6

PONSONBY WINS HOME

McLEOD AND GUINEY BEST BATSMEN GRAFTON’S POOR FIELDING There are as many “ifs” in cricket as in any other sport. Several contributed toward Ponsonby’s defeat of Grafton on the first innings at Eden Park on Saturday afternoon. If Grafton’s fielding had not sunk to shocking depths on occasions and if McLeod and Guiney had not batted for Ponsonby with a good show of enterprise, then Ponsonby’s tally would have been a poor one. Credit must be given to McLeod for his fine score of 128. It brought his side victory. Over-eagerness made him give more than one chance, but the Grafton fieldsmen for the most part had an off-day. They let more than one chance, not from McLeod alone, go begging. McLeod deserved his century. From the start of the season he has shown consistency. With handy scores in several matches, ho had been out in only one innings before Saturday. McLeod - and Monteith started off cautiously. They batted unhurriedly for a long period, despite the fact that Grafton’s solid first innings score of 232 had to be passed. Monteith succumbed to a hot one from Allcott and the arrival of Guiney saw the welding of a valuable partnership. Both McLeod and Guiney scored heavily in the slips. They found weak spots in the field. Their displays were not faultless, but they lifted Ponsonby above a mediocro start and placed it well on the way to success. After 142 had been put on for the partnership, Grafton tried a new bowler, Hocken. His first ball levelled Guiney’s wickets. Smith stayed with McLeod a while and scored IS. Then came a sensational collapse. Ponsonby had four wickets down with only 25 runs wanted for a win. Two New Zealand representatives, Snedden and Finlayson, were dismissed by Allcott and Goodwin respectively, without opening their accounts. Goodwin had an extraordinarily successful over. After skittling Einlayson’s wickets, he bowled Fraser cheaply. With eight wickets down, Ponsonby wanted nine runs to win. Warnford and Wheeler got them in rather a flurried manner after being sorely puzzled by the fine bowling of Allcott and Goodwin, and Wheeler and Roy added 25 for a last wicket partnership. The innings closed for 259. The score somewhat flattered Ponsonby. McLeod, with his 128 score, and Guiney (43) were the only ones to reach any degree of form. It was certainly Ponsonby’s lucky day. Grafton’s shoddy fielding also assisted in giving tho Ponies thei** win. Goodwin bowled excellently, and, after a strenuous afternoon, returned tho good average of four wickets for 50 runs. Allcott was always a dangerous trundler and his 4-83 average was fair. Hocken’s only success was when ho levelled Guiney’s wickets, and one of Bannister’s tempting full tosses brought McLeod’s downfall. Langridge, the English coach, and Horspool, could not find penetrative lengths. Grafton was unlucky in a measure. When some of Ponsonby’s best were failing toward the end, it seemed that Grafton would have a fighting chance; but the last three batsmen made the tail wag to the necessary degree. Their batting, however, was far from decisive. Time and again the bowling beat them badly. Grafton went in for its second innings to play out time, but the scoring was very poor. Details: GRAFTON First Innings •• 232 Second Innings WALTERS, b Warnford 2 HOCKEN, b Finlayson 2 BANNISTER, b Finlayson 5 SLOMAN, b Guiney .. . . .. .. .. 9 CLIFFE, b Guiney 6 ROWNTREE, not out 1 Extras .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 4 Five wickets lor .. .. 29 Bowling: Finlayson, 2-11: Guiney, 2-1; Warnford, 1-9; Monteith, 0-4. Fall of wickets: 1/3, 2/7, 3/12, 4/22, 5/29. PONSONBY First Innings TAYLOR, b Allcott 5 McLEOD, c Goodwin, b Bannister .. 128 MONTEITH, b Allcott 11 GUINEY, b Hocken 43 SMITH, b Goodwin .. .. .„ i# SNEDDEN, lbw. b Allcott 0 FINLAYSON. b Goodwill 0 WARNFORD. b Allcott 0 FRASER, b Goodwin .. 3 ROY, c Rowntree, b Goodwin ...... 12 WHEELER, not out 15 Extras 12 Total .. 259 Bowlins; Goodwin, 4-50; Allcott, 4-S3; Hocken, 1-25; Bannister, 1-34; Langridge 0-21; Horspool, 0-31. S Fall of wickets: 1/12, 2/33, 3/175, 4/218. 5/21S, 0/219; 7/222, S/224, 9/234, 10/259.