Andrew Symonds and Damien Martyn came up with breezy knocks as Australia posted a comfortable seven-wicket victory over New Zealand at The Oval and entered the semi-finals from Group A in the Champions Trophy cricket tournament on Thursday.
After a superb performance in the field and good bowling by Glenn McGrath and Michael Kasprowicz, who shared six wickets between them as New Zealand were restricted to 198 for 9 in 50 overs, Martyn (60 off 71 balls) and Symonds (71 off 47) slaughtered the Kiwi attack to see Australia home in 37.2 overs.
New Zealand innings:
A Glenn McGrath-inspired Australia made all the right moves in the first 40 overs to take control of the match. If there is anything that equals the intensity of India-Pakistan matches then it is the Trans-Tasman rivalry.
The emergence of New Zealand under Stephen Fleming has also coincided with the Aussies becoming the best cricketing nation in the world. All this basically meant that the Oval on Thursday would be the venue of what promised to be the ICC Champions Trophy's first really competitive match. 'Promised' is the key word here, because the contest never materialised.
With the weather gods letting the sun shine brightly, the match was also the first that saw the crowds come pouring in. The farcical matches of the first week of the tournament did not attract any spectator interest and the ICC will clearly have to rethink the format of the tournament.
The Aussies made one change in their line-up, with fast bowler Brett Lee being rested and all-rounder Shane Watson coming into the squad. The Kiwis also made one change and included Kyle Mills ahead of Daryl Tuffey.
Australia skipper Ricky Ponting put the Kiwis in to bat after winning the toss on a wicket that promised to assist the bowlers early on. McGrath proved his skipper's decision right with the kind of bowling that has made him the legend he is.
The Kiwis though started quite well with the openers, Stephen Fleming and Nathan Astle, putting on 30 for the first wicket. The pair did not look in any trouble till McGrath got his act together. In a 19-ball spell, the medium pacer claimed three wickets for three runs to single-handedly put Australia in the driver's seat and reduce New Zealand to fighting for survival.
First man to go was Astle. After having struck two beautiful boundaries he was trapped plumb in front of the wicket by McGrath and back in the hut after scoring 18 off 19 balls. (30 for 1)
McGrath then struck two crucial blows when he removed Hamish Marshall, leg before wicket (36 for 2), and Scott Styris, caught the slips. Both batsmen made ducks. (49 for 3)
The Kiwis were stuttering and the sun was shining at the Oval, but it was only the Aussies who could enjoy its warmth. McGrath finished his first spell with figures of 8-0-29-3.
With him out of the attack, Fleming heaved a sigh of relief. But that was followed by acute disappointment as the Kiwi skipper was brilliantly caught by a diving Jason Gillespie, who ran in from mid-wicket, to give Mike Kasprowicz his first wicket of the match. (49 for 4).
The Kiwis were in danger of capitulating completely and they needed someone to stand up to the rampant Aussie bowlers. The match was quickly starting to mirror the abysmal fare of the first week of the tournament.
The Aussie are running like a well-oiled machine at the moment; nothing seems to stop them. Breaks from cricket only add to the potency of this squad that has an average age of over 28. Only Shane Watson and Michael Clarke are in their early twenties.
Craig McMillan, who was initially scheduled to bat below Chris Cairns, was pushed up the order to try and stem the flow. Jacob Oram joined him in the middle as the duo tried to salvage the situation. They succeeded to a certain extent by putting on 30 runs. But the Kiwis needed more; much more.
Oram scored 15 off 27 balls before a slower ball from Kasprowicz surprised him. The left-hander popped the ball up to the burly fast bowler, who made no mistake with the return catch. (79 for 5)
Chris Cairns walked in next. The Aussies have many a time mentioned him as one of the two batsmen they fear in world cricket, the other being Sachin Tendulkar. But just one ball later, the all-rounder was walking back to the pavilion, a victim of a dodgy decision by the umpire.
Cairns (0) was struck right in front by Kasprowicz, but the ball seemed to be sailing over the stumps. (79 for 6)
Now, could anything thing really save Kiwis from defeat?
The answer was a big 'NO', when nine balls later Craig McMillan (18 off 27 balls), New Zealand's last recognized batsman was run-out by Andrew Symonds. (89 for 7)
Chris Harris, the next man in, fought against the odds with wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum for company. But it was all in vain. Too many wickets had been lost for too little.
The partnership for the eighth wicket produced 39 runs before Harris (26 off 51) hit a seemingly innocuous delivery straight back to Darren Lehmann. (124 for 8)
New Zealand's highest ninth-wicket partnership against Australia could not have come at a better time for them. With things looking very grim, McCullum and Vettori produced a stirring display -- one that might even inspire the Kiwis to an improbable victory.
Their 68-run partnership, off 79 balls, was brought to an end by a brilliant catch by Kasprowicz in the deep off the bowling of Gillespie. McCullum scored 47 off 67 balls including eight boundaries. (192 for 9)
Vettori (29 runs off 42 balls), and Kyle Mills (not out 3) helped the Kiwis end up on 198 for 9.
The total is not really enough to beat the best team in the world, but cricket is, as they say, a funny game.
Australia innings:
Five balls into the Australian innings one might have been forgiven if he believed the Kiwis could conjure up a miracle and defeat their fierce rivals. That's simply because Jacob Oram produced a superb delivery to shatter Adam Gilchrist's off-stump.
Earlier in the over, Gilchrist had shouldered arms to a similar delivery, that harmlessly sped by his off-stump. This time Oram changed the angle ever so slightly and fooled Gilchrist (4) into shouldering arms again. (4 for 1)
With the danger man back in the pavilion, the Kiwis knew that an early finish had been averted. But they were also aware of the depth in the Aussie batting.
Mills, at the other end, had three big shouts against Mathew Hayden turned down in the second over of the innings. But the Aussie opener broke free with a commanding four driven straight down the ground.
Oram suffered in his next over, when Hayden hit him for a flat six. The Aussies were off and running and despite the initial discomfort, they had survived.
Fleming tried to change things around by giving Vettori an over after just four had been bowled in the innings.
Hayden started to take charge of the proceedings and with nothing happening, Fleming brought Styris into the attack. The decision paid off four balls later.
After sending down a series of deliveries that swung away, Styris got one to nip in to Ponting (14 off 29) and bowled him as he tried to play across the line. (49 for 2)
The wicket did nothing to slow down Hayden. He slapped two more boundaries off Styris in his next over and that turned out to be the last over that Styris bowled in the match.
Damien Martyn walked in next, and settled down without any difficulty. Hayden, at the other end, was looking very comfortable too. It was quite some time before the Kiwis managed to breakthrough. It was just a case of the Aussies being too good.
The runs kept coming as the Oval wicket eased out and allowed to batsmen to bat with ease. Hayden and Martyn put on 50 before the left-hander was dismissed.
Hayden (47 off 73) tried to clear Cairns at mid-off but failed and gave Harris his first wicket of the match. But his job was down, the platform was set for the Aussies to win easily.
In doing so, they also showed us why they are so good. One reason is that they love winning -- and winning without any fuss that is.
As if to drive home their dominance, they sent in Andrew Symonds -- with orders, that seemed on the face of it, to destroy the Kiwis.
With seven fours and four sixes he did exactly that. The right-hander scored a brilliant 71 off just 47 balls and shared an unfinished 100-run partnership with Damien Martyn as Australia emerged easy victors.
Martyn, after starting brightly, settled down to let Symonds have most of the strike and yet managed to score 60 off 71 balls including nine fours.
The World champions take on England or Sri Lanka in the semi-final.
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