Date-stamped : 05 Jul97 - 14:19 University Match: House hits out to put Cambridge in control By Ralph Dellor at Lord`s First day of three: Oxford Univ (30-1) trail Cambridge Univ (358-8 dec) by 328 runs CAMBRIDGE have not started a University Match as favourites for many years, but if the tag which accompanied them into the 152nd meeting was meant to be a burden, it was not immediately evident. Tak- ing advantage of some indisciplined bowling, the Light Blue bats- men plundered runs at a heady rate, while the loss of eight wick- ets was of no consequence apart from bol- stering Oxford`s morale. There is a wealth of class batting available to Cambridge, with opener Ed Smith very much the man of the moment as he stands proudly at the top of the national averages. He seldom justified such a lofty position on a damp pitch offering some encouragement to the bowlers, providing they put the ball in the right place. Chetan Patel did so in the fourth over, trimming Smith`s off stump only to find he had been guilty of over-stepping. However, in his next over Patel found the outside edge to have Smith smartly taken at slip by Peter Morgan. Chris Battarbee claimed John Ratledge lbw offering no stroke to reduce Cambridge to 48 for two, but their hopes of making further in- roads faded as Anurag Singh and Robin Jones added 138 in 34 overs. Both finally fell to the persevering Patel, who claimed a career- best six wickets. That was not the end of the Cambridge onslaught. Will House had smashed two sixes to the short Tavern side along with 14 fours in 90 balls before falling just one more six short of his century. David Churton helped him to keep the score moving along and, when he took his place behind the stumps, he held a good catch to dis- miss Charlie Lightfoot and confirm Cambridge`s superiority on the day. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) University Match: Singh holds key to Oxford`s fate By Ralph Dellor at Lord`s 2nd day of 3: Cambridge University (358-8 dec & 74-1) lead Ox- ford University (272) by 160 runs TRADITION dictates that neither side give the other even a glimpse of victory in this fixture. However, if Cambridge are to harvest the fruits of their superiority so far in this match, their cap- tain, Anurag Singh, will have to keep Oxford inter- ested. Otherwise, there is every chance that the Dark Blues will be able to hang on as they have, just, throughout. Resuming at 30 for one, Oxford subsided to 87 for four after 12 overs of the morning`s play. Byron Byrne walked in front of a straight one from the impressive Steffan Jones, nightwatchman Alex Scrini was needlessly run out and Peter Morgan well taken by Will House, diving forward in the gully. That was when James Fulton joined his captain, Mark Wagh, in a fifth-wicket partnership producing 103 runs in 28 overs. Like Singh and House on the first day, both should have reached indi- vidu- al centuries, such was the quality of their batting. It took a good ball to remove Wagh, the first of Jones`s new spell uprooting his middle stump. Fulton had been playing some sear- ing drives before straying out of his crease to be expertly stumped by David Churton. Jones encountered little resistance from the tail to finish with six wickets, representing a career-best perfor- mance by a distance. Cambridge lost Ed Smith early in their second innings. It was an uncharacteristic second failure for the man who had begun the match at the top of the national batting averages. Singh joined John Ratledge and proceeded to launch an array of urgent strokes taking Cam- bridge closer to what must be a finely judged declaration on the fi- nal day. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) University Match Oxford Univ (272 & 249-8) drew with Cambridge Univ (358-8 dec & 239-4 dec) CAMBRIDGE captain Anurag Singh delayed his declaration at Lord`s until 15 balls after lunch. This allowed John Ratledge to reach his maiden first-class century, but the 20 minutes lost cost Cambridge a chance of winning the match, writes Ralph Del- lor. Oxford needed 326 to win in 59 overs but, while they main- tained the chase into the final hour, the loss of wickets to Steffan Jones and Adam Janisch forced the shop to be shut for the final 13 overs. Singh himself had fallen to the second ball of the day but Ra- tledge took Cambridge to a lead of 300 at lunch. That should have been enough. Charlie Lightfoot led the chase intelligently but it was always just out of reach. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)