Not all gloom for beaten Canterbury

Press, 5 February 1986, Page 64

Not all gloom for beaten Canterbury

By

JOHN COFFEY

Wellington might have walked, or, in some cases, limped away with all 16 Shell Trophy cricket points, but Canterbury could also derive some encouragement from its 69-run loss at Lancaster Park yesterday

The target of 372 runs for victory proved beyond the range of the Canterbury batsmen. That in itself was disappointing, for conditions were perfect for high scoring and Wellington was without the injured Paul Allott and Andrew Jones. Evan Gray was also a non-combatant for a time, having damaged the spinning finger of his left hand in the act of accepting a return catch from David Boyle. But Gray recovered sufficiently to end the Canterbury innings with three of the mandatory last 20 overs left unbowled. If the medium-fast deliveries of Stu Roberts had brightened Canterbury’s outlook on the first two days and eventually won for him the "man of the match” award, then the partnership between Boyle and Peter Kennedy gave further promise for the future. A quick Canterbury demise was a prospect when Anup Nathu was out to a bat-pad catch, and Paul McEwan brilliantly caught by Gray in the gully.

But Boyle had applied himself to deny Wellington further success at one end, and Kennedy’s blossoming confidence soon had him moving onto the front foot and injecting increasingly more force into his drives. They progressed steadily to lunch, then accelerated the run-rate. Kennedy’s stroking of the ball through the covers was a delight, half of his 12 boundaries scurrying off in that direction. Their third-wicket partnership was only four short of Canterbury’s best against Wellington — 147 by Andy Roberts and Ron Talbot 55 years ago — when Boyle’s concentration momentarily lapsed and he miscued against Gray’s spin. Boyle had batted 256 minutes and faced 225 balls. Somewhat short of options, Robert Vance was trying out his off-breaks at the other end, and next over Kennedy provided the Wellington captain with his first first-class wicket by chipping an overpitched ball to midwicket. Kennedy’s potential was splendidly shown

in his three and a half hours at the crease. Hope for Canterbury was rekindled as Rod Latham lived dangerously, surviving two chances while thumping seven fours and a six off Steve Maguiness which easily cleared the distant longon boundary. But there could be only one winner when Canterbury was still 106 runs in deficit with just three wickets left beginning the final 20 overs. Ash Hart and Steve McNally resisted almost half the period, before young David Molony had McNally and. Craig Thiele caught from consecutive balls. Roberts survived the hat-trick, and more, until Gray came back to sneak through the earnest defences of Hart. Although destined to be last, Canterbury will have an influence on the outcome of the championship. Its final match is in Dunedin, with Otago requiring at least a first innings win to clinch the title. WELLINGTON First innings 242 Second innings 262/9 dec.

CANTERBURY First innings 133 Second innings A. Nathu c Ormiston b Maguiness 8 D. J. Boyle c and B Gray 68 P. E. McEwan c Gray b Larsen 4 P. G. Kennedy c Ritchie b Vance 81 R. T. Latham c and b Molony 47 V. R. Brown c Milne b Maguiness 11 D. W. Stead c and b Maguiness 18 S. R. McNally c Maguiness b Molony ... 22 A. W. Hart b Gray ... 15 C. H. Thiele c Larsen b Molony 0 S. J. Roberts not out. . 1 Extras (bl 3 IblO, wl, nb3) 27 Total 302 Fall: 25, 32, 175, 177, 204, 242, 266, 294, 294. Bowling.— D. A. Molony 20, 3, 69, 3; S. J. Maguiness 34, 9, 70, 3; G. R. Larsen 24.3, 5, 59, 1 (nbl); E. J. Gray 30.3, 11, 60, 2; R. H. Vance 7, 4,11, 1; R. W. Ormiston 3,0, 10, 0 (wl, nb2). Umpires: R. L. McHarg and N. F. Tapper.

Shelly Trophy standings.— Out. F.I. D Pt Otago 4 4 1 66 Auck. 3 4 0 52 Well. 3 3 2 52 North. 3 3 0 48 Cent. 1 3 1 26 Cant. 0 2 0 8