PLUNKET SHIELD

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2357, 13 January 1915, Page 7

PLUNKET SHIELD

THE HOLDERS' WIN . CHALLENGERS' BIG COLLAPSE ■.. '■ ASTONISHING "ROT" ' FINE BOWLING BY M'LACHLAN. Wellington got their fingers on the Plunket Shield yesterday, and just when everyone was speculating as to whoso •window it would be displayed in they dropped it. Canterbury picked it up, and took it to Christchurch. Canterbury's first innings yielded 244 runs, and their second innings 232 :runs, a total of-475. Wellington made ■269 in their first innings, so they needed ; 203 to win. This task Seemed well witkm the powers of Buch a great batting side, and when Midlane and Baker made a promising opening the hopes of the challengers ' and their supporters l rose higher still. However, M'Lachlan, bowling with the aid of a strong north \ wind, routed the earlier batsmen for \ cheap figures, and there set in a "rot" which never, looked like being stopped. ( Two houra after they ; had opened so hopefully Wellington were all out for 1.116—92 short of the Canterbury total. Brioe should have put himself in earlier. i iwhen. he saw trouble brewing. It is \ possible that he would have shown the other batsmen that, although the bowl(ing ..was distinctly good, there was no ,need for scratching about at it. Brice ahould have gone in after Hiddleston. /!As it was, he and Southall made quite \a stand for the last, .wicket. - When Burns quitted at 94 Wellington seemed ' onuikely to reaob. the hundred,' but ( Soutrksll held his end up well, and, muoh to- Ahe delight of the large crowd, the pair (added 21 runs before Brice, who was Uaking all. the . ohanoes,> was bowled. \ , ■ ■ • : ' I

M'Lacblan and Carlton mtisi be com,fhinented on tiheir howling in tie final i innings; theirs \were two fine perform"jnces. The Caiiterbury fielding waa ; again far superior to ours/ whioh was ■?o weak that seveiji catches were missed n the first ihningia, six chaiiees (three M them catches) wfare allowed to go by In the second innings, • and the ground , fielding was very expensive. There is no shadow, of doubt tha*. Canterbury play oetter crioket than I Wellington in . several important respects, and that they-are much keener?.-- Let them be heartily congratulated \ D n the victory, which gives them the/ right to retain * the Runket Shield 1 | the Last play. When stumps wore |drawn on Monday * evening Wellington'-.fad eight wickets .down in their first,innings for 257 (runs. , The Wellington tail wagged for I a quarter.of an houi- after play was fe- \ sumed yesterday molrning. Burns and Bnce added a dozen .to the totah Then .Burns lifted one, and it was easily held. * Southall went in, blocked a couple of balls, Brice skied'one to. the outfield, (and the innings was ove'.r. . Wellington 'had occupied the crease fty- four hours \ and had put on 269 runs. This gave . them a lead of 25 on the first innings. | < Canterbury sent Whitta an<3 Bishop \in to open their second innings an 3 Wellington entrusted the bowling to Eobinson and Southall. Southall's first over 'yielded 13 runs to Canterbiiry; and in a quarter of an hour the visitors' deficit was wiped out. The bowling wa s not very .effective at .the commence-. ment, and at 31 Southall Was replaced iby Hiddleston. Robinson found his ■length better in his iiftfr over, and with /the third ball he howled.'Whitta;. The 1 total stood at WiJs- which Whitta.had made 21. JElobinSpiii's'one wicket had cost U raxmy . '..

Hickmpttj'?.tHe;vnest 'man. in,. played Robinson; wiiaKejrtreme oare forTa - while, hut. soon* showed some beautiful strokes, and had Southall breaking lie'speed, 'limit :towards the- boundary now and then. The half-century appeared in •thirty minutes. The Wellington fielding so far had. been expensive,, andi on ithe other hand, the batsmen were running well-between the stioks, and gain;'ing valuable runs, which are too often 'allowed by Wellington to-go untouched. In the thirties, Gibbes and Brice "took aver the bowling and Brice in his second over accounted: for Bishop, .who had been exhibiting less confidence than he. did in the earlier stages of his innings. The two wickets which had fallen had yielded 72.

Beal, the newcomer, had a "life" .right away through lifting one to Baker ;at square-leg. Baker misjudged the catch. A'few runs later Beal was within an ace of being run out, and with 'the total at 78 he was clean bowled by t Brice, whose two wickets had cost only j's runs. . ! • Brlce's Brilliant Bowling.

i Carlton joined Hickmottj and the pair Taised the century after the innings had been in progress seventy minutes. The bowling had steadied the batsmen considerably, and it took the pair ten minutes to raise the score from 104 to •105. At 109 Carlton gave a chance behind the wickets, off Hiddleston, but Burns missed it. Ten rnns later Hiddleston got Hickmott 1.b.w., and a partnership which threatened to be prolific was broken. Woods and Carlton , rt>layed"ottt time till the adjournment. After lunch, Woods scored freely, but lOarlton was painfully slow. It took 'him an hour to get his first 23 runs. ■The 170 mark had just been left be'hind when Woods had a narrow escape ■of being run out. Wilson made a poor t shot at the stumps from a few yards |away, and missed. However, at 176 a wine: catch by Mdlane got rid of Woods.

Patriok made a short aid adventur•ous" stay' at the crease. He should 'have been stumped when he had made four, and again when he was six on.. Ho was!still at six when Burns caught ■smartly behind the wickets, off Gibbes. Sandman helped Oarlton to send up the second century. With the total at 218 Southalt' dropped am easy catch from >Carlton off Gibbes. Oarlton was then 49.-on. Carlton added one run, and h\ea Brice got him l.b.w. ' Carlton's tall was the beginning of a tremarkable' rout; Thomas blocked two . balls from.Brice,-and then the Petone ibcwler scattered the wickets. Next ball from Brice was fatal to M'Lachlan. So the over was a maiden with three wic'kets in it. Boxshall and Sandman made the last stand. They carried the score V) ,232, but Brice terminated Boxshall's '> ———

career at that stage, and the threehours' innings was brought to an end. The strike That Failed. Two hundred and eight runs was Wellington's task when Midlane and Baker opened the second innings. The bowlers were Carlton and Sandman. The | batsmen got busy immediately, and the / first twenty was hoisted in ten minutes. Forty was reached, and the bowling did not seem to be bothering the batsmen at all, but a sudden change was at hand. Midlane cocked one .up, and Carlton held it in the slips. Baker's play got streaky, and at 63 Bishop took an easy catch oft him. It is a little i strange that in each first inningß the first wicket fell at 28, and in each sec- | and innings the first wicket was down ■ &t.4J). Hiddleston and Gibbes continued the innings. Hiddleston was aggresive and! promised, a good exhibition. Gibbes's second scoring stroke was a lovely six off M'Lachlan, but thiß howler's next ball'got Hiddleston's bails. Three of ', the best wickets were down for 68 runs, and the chance that looked so rosy an hour before appeared to be vanishing 1 fast. The position looked worse still when Bray was disposed of without the total having been increased at all. M'Lachlan's four wickets had been bought at a price of only 18 runs. Burton partnered Gibbes. .Buns were coming slowly owing to the good quality of the bowling, and the excellence of the fielding. TThe rate can be judged front the faoti that in an hour and a half only 75 runs were made. The fifth wicket (Burton's), fell at 77, and when Wilson went in to join Gibbes 131 runs were required to save the situation for Welligton. There were only throe less needed when" Gibbes and Wilson had been disposed of—seven wickets, down for 80. M'Lachlan's bowling record was six wickets for 24 runs. Robinson and Burns made rather formal appearances at the crease, and then Southall went out to accompany Brice. The pair held on tenaciously for a quarter of an hour, but shortly after 6 o'edock the end came with' the dismissal of Brice. Wellington had made 115, which gives victory to Canterbury by 92 runs. Canterbury. First Innings . . ~ 244 Wellington.—First Innings. F. A. Midlane, b. Carlton 14 W. A. Baker, b. Carlton 73 J. S. Hiddleston, st. Boxshall, b. M'Lachlan 62 W. 51. L. Gibbes, l.b.w.i b. Carlton .........:.....'...... ;...!..• 19 W. Bray, b. Carlton 12 &. Burton, st. Boxshall, b..M'Lachlan .......: 28 C. G. Wilson; h. Sandman 0 W. S. Brice, o. Woods, b. M'Lachland 82 C. W. Robinson, e. Sandman, b. M'Lachlan 0 J. Burns, o. 1 Thomas, b. Oarlton ... 6 T. Southall, not out 0 . Extras 23 Total 269 Bowling Analysis.—Sandman took one Wicket for 62 runs; Carlton, five for 65; M'Lachlan, four for 59; Hickmott, none for 13; Thomas, none for SO; and Patrick, •none for 17. How the Wickets Fell. 12 3 4* .5 6 7 8 9 10 28 121 184 199 200 203 256 256 269 269 'Canterbury—Second Innings. Whitta, b. Robinson 21 Bishop, b. Brice ....; 31 Hickmott, l.biw., b. Hiddleston ... 28 Beal, b. Brice ; • •••• 4 Carlton, 1.b.w., b. Brice '.'. 50 Wood's, c. Midland; b. Gibbes •. 28 Patrick, c. Burns, b. Gibbes 6 Sandman, not otlfr ...; 17 Th< im as. b. Briee 0 M'L&chlan, b. Brico 0 Boxshall, b. Brice '.. 7 Extras 40 Total i....... :..-...• 232 Bowling analysis.—Robinson took on© wicket.for 40 runs; Southall;- none for 31; Hiildleston, one for 33; Gibbes, two for 55;' and Brice, six for 31. Brice . bowled ,two no-balls. • ■.How the. Wickets Fell. 1 2 1.8 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 40 72 78.119.176 194.214 214 214 232 Wollihgton—Second Innings. Midlane, 1 c. Carlton,' b. M'Lachlan 13 Baker, c. Bishop, b. M'Lachlan ... 24 Hiddleston, b. M'Laohlan 15 Gibbes, b. Carlton 16 Bray, c' and b. M'Laohlan 0 Burton, b. Carlton ; ; 3 Wilson, b. M'Lachlan : 0 Brice, b. Carlton 20 Robinson, b. M'Lachlan 3 Burns; c. Bishop, b. Carlton .: 2 Southall, not out ... 6 Extras ; 13 Total '. 115 Bowling anaylsis.—Carlton 'took four wickets for 38 runs; Sandman, none for 6; M'Lachlan, six for 43; and Thomas, i none for 15. How the Wickets Fell. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 18 9 10 } 40 53, 68 68 77 80 '80 83 94 116 i THIRD-CLASS CHAMPIONSHIP. : Fixtures for Saturday next are:— ' Karori v. Old Boys, at Karori jMarist ', Bros. Old Boys v. Central, at Kelburn ! Park. ■ BOYS' LEAGUE. It has been decided to restart the second round of the senior grade inat6h.es on Saturday. The following are the senior grade ' fixtures:— ; Boys' Institute v. Karon, Karori Park. T.M.C.A. v. St. Peter's, Newtown Park No. 2. Telegraph v. TTnited Methodist, Newtown Park No. 1. INTER-STATE CRICKET. NEW SOUTH WALES V. SOUTH v . AUSTRALIA. ', By Teleeraph—Press Association—Copyright (Rec. January 12, 9.40 p.m.) Sydney, January 12. Showers caused some delay in the match between New South Wales. and South Australia. The wicket was djffi- \ cult. South Australia in the first in- , nines made 215—Pollew 24, Sterling 43, I and Whitty (not out), 39. 1 New South Wales, in their second in- 1 nings, are two down for 74. Bard6ley, |; not out, has made 38.