Australia v New Zealand

Dress Rehearsal before Final Show

The super eight match on Tuesday between Australia and New Zealand was seen as a dress rehearsal before the final match. Both the teams are held as strongest contenders to clash in the final match of this tournament. The Kangaroos as well as the Kiwis both have qualified for the semi finals of this tournament. But the rivalry with their Trans Tasmanian counterparts has always made for great viewing. The result of the match however would not have much bearing on the standing of both the teams in the world cup.

Ponting won the toss

The Australian skipper Ricky Ponting won the toss and elected to bat first. This was against the general trend of this world cup. The idea was give the batsmen some practice before they enter the big league. The pitch however seemed to have even bounce. Though some grass was left on the surface but batting did not seem difficult on the track.

Initial hiccup….

This time the Aussies did not start the innings in their trademark style. In the second over of the match Adam Gilchrist was caught by Gillespie on the bowling of Franklin. He was out scoring a single from 2 balls. Australia was stranded on 7 runs for the loss of 1 wicket in 1.1 overs. The other opener Matthew Hayden was then joined by the skipper Ricky Ponting.

Solid partnerships in the middle….

The Australian innings was then witness to two big partnerships that helped them to post a huge total. First it was the duo of Hayden and Ponting piling up a partnership of 137 runs. In their signature style they scoring above 6 runs per over. They never let the scoring rate stoop down. Ponting got out on 66 runs from 70 balls. At his departure Australian had 144 runs on the board for the loss of 2 wickets. Matt Hayden was then joined by Michael Clarke. They again got involved in a strong partnership of 72 runs. The partnership lasted till Hayden was caught and bowled by Scott Styris. Mathew Hayden completed his century, the third in this cricket world cup. He made 103 runs from 100 balls with 10 boundaries and 2 sixes. Australia was firmly placed with 216 runs for the loss of 3 wickets. After the departure of Hayden Australia lost two quick wickets in form of Michael Clarke and Andrew Symonds with addition of just 41 runs.

Watson had a blast….

Shane Watson made a terrific come back to the team after he was out of the squad with an injury. He took the Kiwi bowlers for a ride by hitting them to every possible direction in the park. Shane Watson was ably supported by Mike Hussey. Together they piled up 77 runs and took the Australian score past 300 run mark. Mike Hussey was out on 37 runs from 44 balls. Watson was ruthless to the extent of accumulating 24 runs from the 48th over. He remained unbeaten on 65 runs from 32 balls. He had 3 boundaries and 4 sixes to his credit. Finally Australia scored 348 runs for the loss of 6 wickets from their quota of 50 overs.

Hapless Kiwi bowlers….

The Kiwi bowlers were ruthlessly butchered by the Australian batsmen. Although they picked up 6 wickets but failed to contain them on a flat track, which became very favorable for batting on the later part of the match. The most successful bowler in their squad was JEC Franklin with 3 wickets in his kitty. The other successful bowlers in the innings were Jeeten Patel with 2 wickets and MR Gillespie with 1 wicket.

Kiwis faltered at the very start….

The Kiwi skipper again failed with the willow. The team was again deprived to the start they required to succeed against such a huge total. In the fourth over the Kiwi skipper was caught by the Australian skipper on the bowling of Shaun Tait. Stephen Fleming was out on a personal score of 12 runs from 9 balls. He was soon followed by RL Taylor. Who contributed just 3 runs to the team total from 6 balls that he faced. New Zealand was in jeopardy with 29 runs for the loss of 2 wickets in 5.1 overs.

Collapse at the middle….

After the loss of second wicket the other opener PG Fulton and the middle order bat Scott Styris put up some resistance before the Australian bowling. They put up a partnership of 48 runs in order to stabilize the innings. Scott Styris was out scoring 27 runs from 22 balls in the 12th over of the match. After his departure the middle order could not stand again and fell like a pack of cards. None of the batsmen in the middle order could reach the double figure mark.

Fulton stood tall….

PG Fulton was the only saving grace of the New Zealand. He was the only man standing right from the beginning till the end. The Kiwi tail refused to wag and crumbled under pressure. From 77 runs for the loss of 3 wickets they were bundles out on 133 runs. PG Fulton remained unbeaten till the end by scoring 62 runs from 72 balls. New Zealand was all out on 133 runs from 25.5 overs.

Formidable Australian bowling….

Australia again proved the fact that they have the best bowling attack in the world. The attack was led by the pacers Shaun Tait and Glenn McGrath. The most successful bowler in the innings was the spinner Bradd Hogg. He took 4 wickets giving away 29 runs in 6.5 overs. The other successful bowlers in the squad were Shaun Tait with 3 wickets and Glenn McGrath with 2 wickets.

New Zealand faced huge defeat….

New Zealand faced second biggest defeat in their cricketing history. They lost the match by a margin of 215 runs. The Australian dominated the match in every department of cricket. First they batted with strength and then bowled with equal agility to not let the Kiwi batsmen stand.

Man of the match

Matthew Hayden was invested with the title of man of the match. He made 103 runs from 100 balls to take the opposition to the back foot. This was his third century in this world cup and equaled the record of scoring maximum number of centuries in a world cup.