DUNEDIN MATCH

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 2, 4 January 1939, Page 15

DUNEDIN MATCH

OTAGO IN THE LEAD

AUCKLAND'S BATTING

S.SALE A CENTURY

(By Telegraph—Press Association.) DUNEDIN, January 3. There was interesting cricket at Carisbrook on the third day of the Plunket Shield match between Otago and Auckland. Continuing with the score board showing 53 for two wickets in reply to Otago's first innings score of 427, Auckland batted practically all day, and the last wicket fell at 373, 54 runs behind Otago's total. With only one day's play left something ,extremely unlikely will have to happen if the match is not to result in a win for Otago. -. ■ There can be no questioning the fact that on the run of the play Otago fully deserves its position. Its batsmen built up a winning total by sound cricket, taking the first t\yo days over the job. Then the bowlers captured two valuable wickets in the closing stages ol the second day and today they went on to keep Auckland all the time fighting to avoid a first innings defeat. The cricket throughout the day was most interesting. The scoring was by no means slow and m patches it was definitely fast. The Auckland batsmen did not allow the situation to force them into dreary defensive batting and the fieldsmen had a busy day. The^rate o£ scoring and the keenness of the home side in the field were sufficient to keep the spectators interested, but there were also two very fine individual performances. A CENTURY BY S. SALE. S. Sale, the diminutive Aucklander and son of a former New Zealand representative, was brought into^the side after being twelfth man against Canterbury and he enhanced the family tradition by scoring a splendid 10b. He took only 116 minutes, for his century, and got his runs with confident and beautifully-timed stroke play. He i should have been out twice in his inf nines, once when he was only 4 and. again when he was 22, but the Otago j wicketkeeper, G. H. Mills, who had: made a century on the previous day, | could not accept two relatively easy stumping chances. The crowd was not sorry that Sale was able /to carry, oh however. His was an excellent innings in every respect. . The othef individual performance of much more than passing merit_ was that ol the Otago medium-paced ri^hthand bowler, V. G. Leader, who finished the innings with six wickets for 44 runs off 21 overs. He Jwoke the partnership between A. J. Postles and V. J. Scott that was beginning to look dangerous, and for the remainder of the day he worried the visitors more thin any other bowler. His figures would have been even better if one or two chances from him had been taken. Of the other batsmen, Postles played a characteristically dour innings for 51 before Leader bowled him. He was in no hurry for runs, and his defence was beginning to look impregnable. He and H. Pearson were associated in a valuable partnership, the latter hitting hard on the leg side but not playing quite as sound a game. Scott aiid H. G. Vivian were both aggressive, Vivian particularly .so, and it was Leader who dismissed both of them. At that stage he had three wickets for 10 runs. The catch which dismissed Vivian was a brilliant letthanded one by R. Silver, who was fielding-at second slip. LATE PARTNERSHIPS. G L. Weir stayed with Sale till it seemed that Auckland might retrieve their fortunes. They added 93 runs to? the seventh wicket, and Weir was out in the last over before the tea ,ad3PAnSf'Matheson helped Sale to add another 60, but when Sale was out lbw to Leader with the total at 340 any chance that Auckland might have had was gone. The tail-eriders were helped by some lazy catching, and J. Cowie entertained the crowd with some powerful hitting before he became Leaders sixth victim. .*„■-. Leader was, of course, outstanding among the Otago bowlers, but D. A. R. Moloney was the unlucky one. His right-hand leg spinners had most of the visitors worried, and he deserved more than one wicket. He bowled 37 overs during the day, 14 more than anyone else, and-was handicapped by an injury to his left hand. . , _• , J Purdue got a valuable wicket early but" could make no impression after that, and R. Silver bowled only 10 overs in the innings for 42 runs and no wickets. G. J. Robertson and C J Elmes both bowled steadily, but did not look particularly dangerous. The ground fielding of the side was keen and good, ahd the only features to mar its fielding display were missed stumping opportunities and two catches that went astray late in the day. Conditions were almost ideal for batting. The wicket was hard, fast, and true, and gave the pacy bowlers no assistance. Play was ' watched by a very satisfactory attendance. Scores:— _._,»_,_. OTAGO. First Innings *. •• • 427 Second Innings. K. F. M. Uttley, not out 1 G. J. Robertson, not out 9 Extras 1 Total for no wickets 11 Bowling Analysis. O. M. R. W. : Cowie 2 0 7 0 Weir 10 3 0 ! AUCKLAND. First Innings. P. E. Whitelaw, c Mills, b Purdue .. 0 i A. J. Postles, b Leader 51 M. W. Wallace, b Robertson 35 H. Pearson, b Purdue 49 . V. J. Scott, lbw, b Leader 13 H. G. Vivian, c Silver, b Leader .. 14 :G. L. Weir, c Mills, b Moloney .. 36 . S. Sale, lbw, b Leader 106 ' A. M. .Matheson, lbw, b Leader 24 ' C. K. Jackman, not out 7 J. Cowie, b Leader 20 Extras 1° Total '. 373 Fall of wickets: One for 0, two for 47, three for 137, four for 157, five for 160, six for 182, seven for 275, eight for 340, nine for 347, ten for ,373. Bowling Analysis. < I O. M. R. W, [J. Purdue 23 4 69 2 .R. Silver 10 2 42 0 ■G. J. Robertson .11 0 36 1 iD.A. R. Moloney .37 3 120 1 .V. J. Leader .... 21.5 4 44 6 'C. J. Elmes .... 12 3 44 0 1 Purdue bowled one wide.