OTAGO V. AUCKLAND

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 1, 3 January 1939, Page 5

OTAGO V. AUCKLAND

FOKMER START WELL

SOLID FIRST INNINGS

LATTER LOSE TWO WICKETS

(By Telegraph—Press Association;)

DUNEDIN, January 2. The first two days of the" Plunket Shield match between Otago and Auckland, being played on the Carisbrook ground, have sufficed to re-establish the Otago side in firm favour with supporters of the province. By batting for most of the two days and scoring 427 and then capturing two of the most valuable Auckland wickets for only 53-runs in the last three-quarters of an hour today, the Otago side proved that its form of the Wellington match was actually too bad to be true. Otago's was a good score-sheet, there being only one of the first eight batsmen who did not reach double figures and only one contribution running into three figures. G. H. Mills, wicketkeeper of the side, scored 121. 'Going in No. 7 and being last out, he was associated with A. R. Knight and T. C. Fraser in two valuable partnerships worth 89 and 98 respectively,»and when he had passed the 100 mark he went hunting for runs. There was not a chance- in his innings till he skied an easy catch on the ieg side in trying for a big hit. He batted for 290 minutes and the innings was notable for him in that it was his first century in either first-grade club cricket or representative matches, and if he can recapture his top form behind the wickets it will establish him as an extremely Valuable Plunket Shield all-founder. The next biggest individual score was G. J. Robertson's 73, v a typically Jogged innings. Robertson, went in first with K. F. M. Uttley and set about wearing the bowling down, a task wMch he did most successfully. D.' At'R; Moloney was batting in the form which has won him such a high reputation when he was. badly run out. His-48-was airtbdel;inhihgs and at that stage he looked like going on to a^big score. - C. J. Elmes and Knight both contributed useful 30's and then Fraser worried his way through" a scratchy start and added a good 54. RAIN ON FIRST DAY. At no stage could-the batting be called sparkling, though conditions were all in favour of a batting side. The first day's play was interrupted by showers of rain and the Auckland bowlers had a greasy ball, as well as a greasy wicket, to contend with. The weather was bright till late in the afternoon of today, and, apart from the fact that a few balls kept low, the wicket, gave the batsmen every chance.

There was plenty of time, however, and against such a strong batting side as Auckland the only reasonable tactics were to dig in and score as heavily as possible, with pace at that stage a secondary consideration. Those tactics were followed out to the letter. The Auckland attack was. not impressive. There was very little variety, the slow left-hander, H. G. Vivian, being almost the only contrast to the pace of J. Cowie and the medium-paced bowling of A. M. Matheson and G. L. Weir. Cowie did not bowl at full pace on Saturday, being handicapped by the wet' approach, but today he came through more quickly and looked more like the bowler who was rated in England last year as one of the world's best. He bowled 36 overs in the innings for five wickets for 79 runs, and always looked much the most dangerous of the bowlers. Matheson and Weir were, likte Cowie, not consistently accurate, - but Vivian was treated with respect. The Auckland fielding was good without being brilliant, and the wicketkeeper, C. J. Jackman, had to cover a lot of ground to gather the returns. AUCKLAND'S LATE START. _ Auckland's start was not encouraging. There were 45 minutes of play, left when P. E. Whitelaw and A. J. Postles opened and Whitelaw was out, caught behind the wickets, in the first over. M. W. Wallace gave a delightful exhibition of the confident stroke play for 35 minutes, in which time he made 35 runs, and was then bowled off his pads and it was left to the steady Postles and H. Pearson to play out time. The light was not good when Auckland batted, but Wallace's innings, brief as it was, was really the high light of the match. To this stage he shaped with the utmost confidence, and played strokes all round the wicket as though he had been battling for hours. Moloney matched him for stroke production, but Wallace was aggressive from the first ball sent down to him. Otago's fielding was keen, but though J. Purdue and Robertson each got a quick wicket, the attack did not appear menacing. The fast bowlers could not equal Cowie's pace and Wallace was playing them so confidently that a double change was soon made. Robertson quietened Wallace and then bowled him off his pads. The play was watched by a fair crpwd on both days. The gate takings on Saturday were £71 and there was an attendance of nearly the same size today. On resuming after lunch on Saturday with the total at 70, Moloney looked full of runs. He was batting quietly but hitting his strokes beautifully. With the total at 117 Otago had bad luck, Moloney being foolishly run out. Robertson was batting doggedly, and reached 50 in 58 minutes. He gave two sharp chances behind the wickets when in the sixties. Elmes got ihost of his runs with a powerful hook shot, and was out lbw when 'he appeared to snick • one oti to his pads. Weir was being used a lot, and his first over after tea accounted for Robertson, 4he bowler being given an easy, catch. Robertson's 73 had taken 198 minutes, and was most valuable, despite its slowness. Rain became heavy at 5 o'clock, and stumps were drawn with Otago's total 209 (Knight 17, Mills 16). YESTERDAY'S PLAY. The weather was fine with a light breeze and a- fast wicket when the innings was resumed today. Mills and Knight continued to score slowly, Knight being particularly cautious. He took 80 minutes for 13 runs, and was smartly stumped with the total at 268. Mills had livened up, and ran into the 50's by bright cricket. Fraser started very shakily,- and Mills also slowed down. Cowie was bowling with-more 'pace, but the attack still did not look dangerous. ' At lunch the total was 276, Mills being 56. Fraser remained uncertain till he reached the twenties, but thien played better strokes, and the scoring became faster. Mills-was not aggressive, but was moving along steadily. Cowie broke the partnership by bowling Fraser with the total at 365. With Leader in, Mills moved towards his 100 very slowly, and was 96 at tea. He reached his century in the third over after resuming, and the pair began to look for runs. Cowie bowled Leader and, with the tailendeirs in, Mills opened out. The innings ended when he skied an easy catch at backward square leg. Otago's 427 had taken 559 minutes. Auckland began their innings with "Whitelaw and Postles in a dull light, and Whitelaw snicked the third ball of Purdue's opening over for Mills to take a legside catch.

Wallace started with great confidence, his first scoring strokes being 2, 3, and 4. He was scoring very quickly and was responsible for 20 of the first 21 runs. Robertson steadied him a little and got his wicket when

a good-length ball came back off his pads. Postles and Pearson cautiously played out time. Despite this good start the Otago bowlers did not look particularly dangerous. Scores: — OTAGO. First Innings. K. F. M. Uttley, b Cowie 17 J. G. Robertson, c and b Matheson 73 C. K. Saxton. b Cowie 0 D. A. R. Moloney, run out 48 C. J. Elmes, lbw, b Weir 34 A. R. Knight, st Jackman, b Vivian 33 G. H. Mills, c Pearson, b Matheson 121 T. C. Fraser, b Cowie 54 V. G. Leader, b Cowie 6 R. Silver, b Cowie 7 J. Purdue, not out * 3 Extras 31 Total 427 Fall of Wickets.—One fcr 37, two for 37, three for 117, four for 172, five for 178, six for 267, seven for 365, eight for 387, nine for 397, ten for 427. BOWLING ANALYSIS. O. M. R. W. J. Cowie 36' 7 79 , 5 A. M. Matheson 38.3 8 94 2 H. G. Vivian ..27 3 55 1 G. L. Weir 30 1 98 1 V. Scott 7 0 23 0 A. Postles 8 1 32-0 S. Sale 3- 1 15 0 Matheson bowled one no ball and two wides. AUCKLAND. First Innings. P. Whitelaw, c Mills, b Purdue .. 0 A. Postles, not out 11 M. W. Wallace, b Robertson 35 J. Pearson, not out 3 Extras 4 Total for two wickets ... i 53 BOWLING ANALYSIS. O. M., R. W. Purdue 4 0 14 1 Silver 3 0 16 0 Robertson .... 4 0 10 1 Moloney 4,1 9 0