Delighted With Their Start

Chronicle (Levin), 2 May 1949, Page 5

Delighted With Their Start

New Zealand Cricketers Meet Yorkshire

Received Sunday, 7 p.m. . April 30. ! With a fullblopded . hook to the | square leg boundary off the -fifth ball of j Jie match, Sutcliffe opened the New J '.ealand tour against Yorkshire at ' ^Bradford. " With equal aggressiveness Scott seht the ' fltst ball: he received,' a| ;ull toss, tp the . leg boundary also. J jlben with ;cool cpnfidence both Auckianders made an opening stand of 117 -n 1 hour 40 minutes. Hadlee and Wallace continued in the same strain with another century partnership and jnst hefore 6 o'clock after New Zealand had battec\ for nearly 5^ ho.urs, Hadlee declared with 37Q for 7 wickets. Iu some 20 minutes Hutton and HaJliday scored eight, playing .out time carefully against the aggressive and aecurate bowling of Cowie and Cave, with the Xew Zealanders showing such smartness- at fielding that any doubtiengendered by Eastbourne were- .pain lessly forgotten. In the dressing room at the end of the day Hadlee said: "We are all delighted with our start. We all appre ciate the importance of this match and everybody was keyed up. I think we've done all that could be expected." There was indeed tension about the first half hour of the game that few members of the team are likelv to for get. Before Hadlee and Yardley toss ed, both the Xew Zealanders and York shiremen had a knock at the nets. Tht Xew Zealand captain maintained hiccustom of ealling "tails" and waved his bat to his men staring alxiously through the tall windows of the paviF ion. There was no pause to question his custom, Then for half an hout every remaining member of the team sat silent, in concentration and somt prayer, whilst Sutcliffe and Scott play ed themselves in. When Sutcliffe pulled a long hop from Robinson for si> witli perfect timing and grace, wide grins split every face, wiping away ab vestiges of strain. The runs were coming. Sutcliffe 's Fine Work. The flrst 50 took 46 minutes, Sutcliffe removed one of his sweaters and hit three sixes and 101 was on the board in S0 minutes. Sutcliffe was doing most of his scoring on the leg side and occasionally produeing powerful drives to the off, Scott was dour and death on the lOQse ball. And then, just wheu we were telling ourselves Sutcliffe was set "for a century, suddenly he was out. He playeo 'slightly too far forward to'a rising bal! .from Aspinall and Wardle hq.d hirq at line leg. He had scored 72 in 100 min utes and hit seven fours in addition to his three sixes. Hadlee squarecut Aspinall for three dmmediately and then abruptly Scott was out, too, edging another rising ball to Wardle who was now at second slip. Two wickets if) tlxree balls but tlm Aucklanders had given New Zealand a grand start.

Large Crowd Watches. Wallace and Hadlee played caTefully the last quarter hour to lunch, both beginning with some uucertainty. Hadlee drew a massive "oh" from the crowd of 12,500 when he snieked a t'ast rising ball from Aspinall between the wicketkeeper and flrst slip, to the boundary. Wallace derived comfort i f-rom driving a full tQss from W&rdle for six and 142 for two at lunch was as satist'ying as the meal itself. The New Zealand captain and vicecaptain were painstaking when they returned and were content with seven runs in the first -quarter hour. Coxor. was now b&wling at his peak and twiee beat Wallace. Hadlee gave Hutton a difiicult chanee at mid-on. • Quiek singles were stolen. Wallace scored 52 In an hour while Hadlee collected. 19. Century Partnership. 1 • With the ball becoming ((old" and before a new one was taken, both New Zealanders c-ollared the bowling, relished 'long hops from Halliday and produced a partnership of a century in li hours. The entire team was delighted to see Hadlee, the cares of speechmaking east aside, having what Bryan Sellers would call six ounces of luek and backing it with confidence on the easy paced wicket. Wallace, though not so faultlpss as Sutcliffe, hit ten fours and one six and scored freely all round the wieket. Donnelly firmly placed the seal ot success on the innings and hit six fours including some graceful off drives and leg glides in his 1 hour 25 minutes at the wicket, before «he was yorked. Rabone and Mooney .were withou' even half an ounce of luck and Burtt, playing to his captain 's inatruQtions, was solid care and concentration fqr 105 minutes. Among the spectators were Mr. Fraser and Mr. Jordan who shook hands with the teams on the field. Mr. Fraser found the atmosphere following the tea sq peaceful after the bustle and cares of the Commonwealth eouforenee, that ]ie hgd a short nap, NEW ZEALAND. First Innings. Sutcliffe, o Wardle, b Aspinall .. 72 Scqtt, c Wardle, b Aspinall .... 41 Hadlee, e Wilson, b Aspinall .... 46 Wallace, c Wardle, 0b Coxon .... 82 Douuelly, b Robinson QS' Raboue, c Coxqn, b Aspinall 5 Mooney, b Aspinall 1 Rurtt, not out , , „ * 2S Cave, not out 10 Extras .' .. 16 Total for 7 wickets declared 370 Bowling: Aspinall 5 for 80, Coxon 3 for ,86, Yardley 0 for 21, Robinson I foy 78, Wardle 0 for 71, Halliday. 0 for 18. YORKSHIRE, First Innings. Hutton, not out . . 3 Halliday, not out 5 ,tTQtal for no wickets 8