Cricket Blog

An easy win for the Aussies as they continue with their dominance in cricket. Ricky Ponting smashed his 24th ton in ODIs and guided Australia to a convincing 7 wicket win over arch-rivals New Zealand. Earlier the Kiwis had posted a respectable 254/7 in their 50 overs. Brendan McCullum was the top scorer from the Black Caps as he got 96. Ross Taylor got to his 50 from only 52 balls. The Kiwis lost wickets at crucial intervals towards the close and that ensured they were around 25-30 runs short.

However, even that would not have been able to stop the Australian juggernaut as Hayden and Gilchrist smashed the bowling to pulp in the first 5 overs. Gilly got 51 from only 29 balls and was clearly the master blaster of the day. Ponting and Michael Clarke then had a match-winning 135 run partnership. By the time Clarke got out, Australia were well and truly on their way to an easy win.

Click here for the full scorecard

Match Highlights

Lou Vincent Wicket
John How Wicket
Scott Styris Wicket
Ross Taylor Wicket
Matthew Sinclair Wicket
Daniel Vettori Wicket

Matthew Hayden Wicket
Adam Gilchrist Wicket

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New Zealand continued on its merry way with another win, albeit by only 5 runs, and seem to have booked an early spot for the semi-finals. England now need to win both their matches to have any chance of reaching the semis and they have to prepare quickly as they fight it out with India in a do-or-die clash tomorrow. As for New Zealand, no one would have expected them to be leading their group, and the red hot form of South Africa is going to ensure a mouth-watering match at Durban.

Let’s get back to the match. Paul Collingwood won the toss and has been the case in the tournament, he decided to field first. The Kiwis never got off to a good start as the top order collapsed to Anderson, Broad and Flintoff. Lou Vincent was the only top order player to reach double figures, but even that wasn’t a lot - only 13 runs. The old guard took charge of the match for New Zealand with Scott Styris and Craig McMillan joining hands together for a match-winning 60 run partnership. Styris dominated this one scoring 42 runs from 32 balls with 4 big hits and 1 boundary.

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New Zealand won their first match in the World Cup today. After being set 210 for victory, the Kiwis reached the target with 54 balls and 6 wickets in hand. The star performers for New Zealand were Scott Styris (87 not out and 2 wickets) and Jacob Oram (63 not out and 1 wicket).

After winning the toss, and after their successful run chases against Australia recently, Stephen Fleming had no hesitation in electing to field first. The result was early English wickets falling and the score reduced to 52-3, before Pieterson and Collingwood came up with a much needed partnership of 81 runs. However, both departed quickly and the England suffered a major middle order collapse as Flintoff went for a duck. In a matter of a few balls, England scorecard went from 133-3 to 138-7. And then came Nixon and Plunkett, two unlikely saviors. Both remained unbeaten and took the final score to 209-7.

New Zealand, on their part started disastrously, with Vincent, Fleming and Taylor departing in quick succession to leave the Kiwi middle order a huge task to win the match. At 19-3, Vaughan must be thinking that England have an excellent chance to win this match. However Styris and McMillan had other ideas. They kept the scorecard ticking and just when New Zealand looked like they were gaining momentum, Panesar got McMillan to heave a catch at deep cover. In came Jacob Oram and shared an unbeaten stand of 138 runs with Styris to seal the match.

Click here for New Zealand vs England scorecard
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1. New Zealand

They have always been the underdogs in any world cup that they played. And this one is not going to be any different. New Zealand has never had any “STAR” players in their team, and this squad holds no surprises as well. OK, a lot would disagree with me here, so I will mention Shane Bond as a STAR player. Although New Zealand does have a lot of bits and pieces players. And this is where the Kiwis excel in. Where they lag in star power, they more than make up for in players who do their jobs day-in and day-out. McMillan, Vettori, Oram, Styris and Fulton to name a few. Its always a collective effort for the Kiwis and thats what really works for them.

2. England

The country that created cricket has never won a World Cup. To a stranger this would be almost unbelievable, but to the cricket followers this should not come as a surprise. England has never had an invincible ODI squad and this one holds no surprises either. However, after defeating the Aussies with a depleted attack, England must surely be soaring high in confidence. The key to the English performance will be Flintoff and Pieterson. These two can rip apart any team when its their day. The rest of the team will have to play around these two guys.

3. West Indies

Last but not least, the host nation. And who else but Brian Lara will hold the key to the West Indian campaign in this World Cup. I believe that West Indies have a terrific squad who will definitely spring a few surprises and might make it to the semi-finals. They have had a far better one day record in 2006 and playing at home might just give that little bit of edge. Chanderpaul, Gayle and Sarwan need to support Lara in the batting. The bowling is very inexperienced and will be the weakness for West Indies.

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