Representative Cricket Wanganui Defeat Taranaki In Hawke Cup Elimination

Wanganui Chronicle, 29 December 1947, Page 6

Representative Cricket Wanganui Defeat Taranaki In Hawke Cup Elimination

(By “Montpelier.”)

An outright win by 136 runs was gained by Wanganui an hour before stumps yesterday (the third day of play) in their Hawke Cup elimination cricket match with Taranaki on Cook s Gardens. . . _ , Replying to Wanganui’s first innings score o± 417, made on Friday, Taranaki went to the wicket on Saturday and totalled 229 runs. . . . Wanganui suffered complete collapse m their second innings which commenced late on Saturday afternoon and were all out for 114 on Sunday morning. Left with 303 runs for an outright win. Taranaki batted unevenly and reached a disappointing second inning’s score of 166 in a tame finish.

Wanganui’s fielding was aril object lesson to Taranaki | throughout the game. The ground ■ pick-ups, the catching and the re- • turns to the ’keeper showed the ’ visitors just where they had lost : not only many runs, but possibly • the match itself. Sweeney and Leighton went to the wicket for Taranaki, and faced up to the bowling of right-handers Bergerson and Thomas. Sweeney raised the first 10 runs with two hard hooks behind the square leg umpire for fours, and a further boundary to long leg, all off short balls from Bergerson. Twenty-three runs came in the first 45 minutes of play, the opening batsmen being content to settle down and score chiefly from snicks behind the wicket for singles. Although the pitch had apparently dried out well, Thomas found a moist patch at the northern end and used it to make his deliveries “pop” wickedly. With Taranaki’s score at 25, Leighton was caught in two minds’ by Thomas, and skied one to Hunt in the gully. THOMAS DANGEROUS. Finding the spot with disconcert-] ing regularity, Thomas came through! at varying pace and height and forced I the batsmen into errors. Barker, the' incoming batsmen, tried to get him I away to leg, but the stroke was 1 premature. The ball came off the j edge of his bat and Cave ran in to take a good catch at mid-on. 30-2-2. Still getting the ball up awkwardly, short of a length, Thomas set a leg-! trap with McConway at leg-slip, Hunt short square, Barnet at silly mid-on, Cave mid-on, and Nimmo on the boundary waiting for the harder hook shots. He then proceeded to bowl a row of maidens. A slow 39 was on the board with 90 minutes gone when Sweeney played back to a ball from Thomas, which dropped from his bat and slewed on to the wicket. Sweeney had hit three fours., Meuli joined Betts and the latter brought up 40 by hooking McConway high and hard to the fence. But in Thomas’ sixteenth over, Meuli cocked one Up to Barnett in the leg cordon and went with a blob. Thomas at this stage had sent down 16 overs, for 10 maidens, 6 runs, and four wickets. New batsman Scott banged him through the leg field for two fours in the same over, and Taranaki’s total] was 50. Betts was playing himself in quietly and reached double figures by another hook for four, off McConway. Felts then relieved Thomas, but bowled to an identical leg-trap. Attempting to emulate Betts’ lucrative hook shot, Scott pulled across the flight of a ball from Felts and was bowled 87-5-17. Miller was the incoming batsman, and he settled down to help Betts play out the remaining five minutes before lunch. Betts made Taranaki’s score 90 by cracking Brown through the covers off the back foot, and was not out with 38 at the adjournment. TARANAKI SCORE SLOWLY. The 100 came up on the resumption with Betts off-driving Thomas for four. The crowd failed to show proper appreciation when Betts reached his 50 a few runs later. His was a sedate captain’s knock, of inestimable value to his side’s morale as well as their collective total of runs. Fast bowler McConway was rewarded for hostile attack when Miller swung wildly at him and was bowled neck and crop, just when a long-term partnership with his skipper appeared likely. 134-6-16. The 150 arrived with Betts straight-driving and square-cutting for two fours in one over from Felts, Taranaki’s batting time being 241 minutes. After he had twice invited disaster by swishing at balls outside the off stump from Felts, Betts finally leaned across to cut one, did not get over it, and Bergerson at first slip dived for a very pretty catch. Betts had notched 13 fours. Broughton and Blyde were now together at the crease, the latter being dismissed shortly after when he played over one from left-hander Brown, and yorked himself. 181-8-14. Broughton showed aggression of l the typical left-hander variety, going down on one knee to loft Felts over the square-leg boundary for a sixer. A similar shot for four made the afternoon tea adjournment score 206. BARNETTS THREE CATCHES. Thomas took the new ball and Broughton repeated his high pull to leg off the first ball of the over. The fourth, a rash attempt, was calculated to go the same way, but Barnett raced across from a position by the square-leg umpire to get to it as it fell short of the boundary, juggle with it, and finally dive to catch the ball one-handed. Broughton’s tally included three fours, a three, and a six, and the scoreboard read 210-9-26. Fierce driving by Pauling off Bergerson’s bowling added a dozen runs before Barnett took his third catch, this time in the gully, to dismiss him. Collins had batted stolidly to be not out. Taranaki’s first innings thus closed at 4.20 p.m. with the total 229. Wanganui’s most successful trundlers were Thomas and Felts, who had the opportunity to employ the bad patch at one end, but Brown at the other end had the strikers in trouble. WANGANUI COLLAPSE. Although Wanganui held a first, innings lead of 188 runs, Thomas did not enforce the follow on, no doubr preferring to give the opposition the fourth innings on a wicket which showed signs of wear. Nimmo and Hunt opened Wanganui’s second innings to an all fast attack of Pauling and Betts, the latter bowler quickly giving way to Miller. A leg-bye put the first 10 on the board, but in Miller’s second over Nimmo went back on his wicket to play a defensive stroke to a swinging delivery and was bowled.

Ninety minutes of play remained, and in that brief period Wanganui were hustled out in a sensational batting collapse which boded ill for Taranaki if a crumbling wicket was responsible. Cave began confidently, registering the first boundary with a cover drive off Miller and despatching an overpitched ball from the same bowler to the leg fence, two deliveries later. Hunt was skittled by Pauling with the score at 22, and Bergerson had no sooner come out to partner Cave than the latter tried to hook a very short bumper from Pauling, only to drag it onto his stumps. 29-3-13. Cameron had two “lives” at the outset, pushing a ball up to a fieldsman forward of square-leg only to see him start from his forty winks and miss it, and then being dropped behind. However, Cameron and Bergerson plucked the odd single, and the jcore moved to the forties. The first ball of Pauling’s twelfth over was short, but kept devilishly low and up-rooted Bergerson’s leg stump. 42-4-6. Hearts of Wanganui supporters sank still lower, when Pauling’s second ball never rose an inch and sent Thomas’ middle pin cart-wheel-ing. Saver of lost causes, Condliffe was promoted in the batting order to prevent the ignominy of a hat-trick at least, if not to stop the rot altogether. He survived a very good over from Pauling, who was on the flood tide of success with four wickets for about that many runs. Cameron leg-glanc-ed Pauling for a single to bring up the first 50, and what a struggle it had been! Then Miller grazed Cameron’s off stick in the next over so that the analysis was 50-6-8. Barnett was immediately in difficulties, and Betts lost no time in bringing on that top-flight spinner Meuli at one end and himself at the other. The change was successful, for Condliffe tried to steer one behind point, and was well held by Pauling, who jumped across from the short gully position. To those followers of the game who appreciate a battler, Condliffe’s modest contribution of 14 runs represented as great a triumph in many respects as did Bergerson’s huge first innings score; with all due respect to the latter.

Brown was the fresh batsman, and three runs later he went well up the track to Meuli and smashed a full toss to leg for four. Foolishly, he tried to repeat the shot off the next ball, and was easily stumped when any novice ’would have known that that next ball would have been quicker through the air and lower-flighted. Barnett had stuck on grimly with 14 runs to his credit, and he and Felts held out till 6.30 p.m. THIRD DAY’S PLAY. Two leg-byes brought up Wanganui’s 100, both Barnett and Felts having a good sight of the bowling and waiting for the runs to come. Meuli came on at the north end and Betts took Miller’s place to bowl into the breeze. In Meuli’s second over, Felts went right b. ; on his wickets and brought his 1.. down on the bails. Last man in, McConway began briskly but Betts accounted for him with a faster ball which swung in from leg, and Wanganui’s final second innings score was 114. Play had been in progress 35 minutes. 808 NEEDED. This left Taranaki with a total of 303 runs to get in their second innings for an outright win. Rain held up the game until 12 o’clock when Broughton and Leighton opened for the visitors. Double figures arrived before Leighton was well held by Bergerson at first slip off Thomas’ bowling. A further adjournment because ot rain lasted from 12.30 till twenty minutes to one and with only 20 on the board Taranaki needed to force the pace to get heir runs at the required rate of one a minute. Sweeney made the total 50 on the resumption by hooking Thomas for four, after he and Broughton had been batting quietly but confidently. The 60 came in Bergerson’s next over with Broughton pulling a typical sixer over the leg fence. Contrary to expectations, the pitch was playing easily, after the rain. Brown reI placed Bergerson, and in his first over Sweeney attempted a hook shot only ' to pull it softly into the hands of I Hunt. 57-2-17. | Betts and Broughton carried the score along past the 80 mark when Broughton put his foot well down the track to a turning ball from Brown and was clean bowled. BROWN BOWLS WELL. Brown varied his length, continued to worry the batsmen, and Betts felt for one outside the off pin to be caught at the wicket. He hit three fours. ' Scott opened his account with a lusty six off Brown, over the squareleg fence, and two overs later brought up the 100 with an on-drive for four off Brown. Shortly after the tea adjournment had been taken, Scott attempted a hook shot and was snapped up by Thomas fielding forward of short-leg. This removed a batsman whose hard-hitting, forceful style (3 fours and a six) constituted a big threat to Wanganui’s policy of keeping the runs down. i After a very quiet period of play, i Meuli went back to McConway and 1 an appeal for l.b.w. was answered in , the affirmative. Meuli’s knock included three fours and had been a ’ creditable one. 139-6-27. At 5 o’clock, Taranaki’s score stood at 147, which meant that they were 156 ms in arrears with 90 minutes to go. A few runs later, Barker tried to square-cut a short one from Felts and was caught behind by Condliffe. Infected by the newcomer Pauling’s six-or-out mood, Miller opened his shoulders to a ball from Felts and

Hunt took a fine running catch at long-on. In the next over from Brown, Pauling lifted a ball into the outfield and Cameron ran back to get his hands to it safely. 162-9-7. Taranaki’s innings closed on a lame note at 5.30 p.m. with Blyde being skittled.

Total 114 Falf of wickets: One for 12, two for 22, three for 29, four for 42, five for 42, six for 50, seven for 65, eight for 72, nine for 109, ten for 114. Bowling.

Scores: WANGANUI. First Innings. S Nimmo. b Miller 13 E. K. Hunt, l.b.w., b Betts 43 H. B. Cave, st Barker, b Collins . 51 J. A. Bergerson, b Betts 157 D. A. Cameron, b Meuli 12 J. A. Barnett, st. Barker, b Meuli 3 R. E. Thomas, run out 22 L W. Condliffe, l.b.w., b Sweeney 64 R. E. Brown, not out 12 J. H. Felts, b Broughton 10 J. McConway, b Broughton 0 Extras 30 Total 417 Fall of the wickets: One for 41; two for 88; three for 131; four for 165; five for 181; six for 229; seven for 383; eight for 401; nine for 417: ten for 417. BOWLING. 0. M. R. W. J. Broughton 14 1 38 2 L. Miller 17 1 69 1 S. Pauling 16 4 40 0 S. Betts 21 4 54 2 A. Collins 19 1 69 .1 E. Meuli 17 0 56 2 Sweeney 8 0 34 1 J. Scott 4 0 27 0 Second Innings. S. Nimmo, b Miller 6 K. Hunt, b Pauling 2 H. Cave, pld. on., b Pauling 13 J Bergerson, b Pauling . 6 D. Cameron, b Miller 8 R. Thomas, b Pauling 6 L. Condliffe, c Pauling, b Betts . 14 J. Barnett, not out 23 R Brown, st. Barker, b Meuli .. 6 J. Felts, hit wicket, b Meuli 9 J. McConway, b Betts □ Extras 20

O. M. R. W. S. Pauling 19 4 24 4 L. M.iler _ 15 5 35 2 S. Betts 10.3 4 15 2 E. Meuli 7 0 19 2 TARANAKI. First Innings. N. Leighton, c Hunt, b Thomas 7 T. Sweeney, pld. on., b Thomas 26 W Barker, c Cave, b Thomas 2 S. Betts, c Bergerson, b Felts 86 E. Mduli, c Barnett, b Thomas ... 0 J. Scott, b Felts 17 L. Miller, b McConway .... 16 P. Blyde, b Brown .... 14 J. Broughton, c Barnett, b Thomas ... 26 W. Collins, not out . 12 S. Pauling, c Barnett, b Thomas 12 Extras .. 11 Total 229 Fall of wickets: One for 2f , two for 30, three for 39, four for 43, five for 87, six for 134, seven fo 175. eight for 181. nine for 210, ten for 229. Bowling. O. M. R. W. R. Thomas 29.4 14 53 6 J. Felts . 12 3 42 2 R. Brown 10 2 29 1 J. McConway 15 5 35 1 J. Bergerson .-. 17 4 59 0 Second Innings. J. Broughton, b Brown .... 31 N. Leighton, c Bergerson, b Thomas .... 3 T. Sweeney, c Hunt, b Brown . 17 S. Betts, st. Condliffe, b Brown 27 E. Meuli, l.b.w. b McConway ... 27 J. Scott, c Thomas, b McConway 23 W. Barker, c Condliffe, b Felts 8 L Miller, c Hunt, b Felts . . ... 9 S. Pauling, c Cameron, b Brown 7 P. Blyde, b Brown ... 1 W. Collins, not. out .... 4 Extras .... 9 Total 166 Fall of wickets: One for 11, two for 57, three for 85, four for 86, live for 122, six for 139, seven fo • 154, eight for 159, nine for 162, ten for 168. Bowling. O. M. R. W. J. Bergerson 14 1 31 0 R. Thomas 20 6 23 1 R. Brown 19.3 3 59 5 J. Feits 23 8 29 2 J. McConway 10 3 15 2