Australia smash New Zealand by 215 runs

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I had a sense of deja vu when I woke to the news that Shane Bond was out due to a gastro illness (a likely story). On the plus side, I also learned the ANZAC rugby league Test was comfortably won by Australia (30-6). As for the cricket, Australia batted first and burst out of the blocks, painfully aware that the last two times we played New Zealand, they successfully chased down 337 and 347. We went 2 runs better today, reaching 6 for 348. Surely a chase of 349 would stump the Black Caps!

I'm starting to get philosophical about Gilchrist's dismissals. Yes, I do seem to have a jinxing effect (he was dismissed for 1 in the 2nd over). But on the plus side, it does serve to bring Ponting and Hayden, Australia's two form batsmen, together early. The New Zealand bowlers had no answer to Hayden's power or Ponting's timing and Hayden even nearly took out umpire Asad Rauf with a straight drive that smashed his watch (hope it wasn't a Rolex). When Ponting fell for 66 flicking the ball to midwicket, it was unexpected - he's been in such good form this World Cup, it usually takes a runout to dismiss him. Hayden scored 103 off 100 balls leaving me wondering if Granada will adopt him as a citizen similar to St Kitts and Nevis.
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The run flow slowed following Ponting's dismissal but Clarke kicked things along again, striking three consecutive boundaries off Gillespie (who had a shocker with the ball going at 11 runs per over). Clarke's dismissal beggared belief. He struck the previous delivery to the midwicket boundary, striking across the line with great bat speed. The shot had me reflecting on how well he was seeing the ball when he shouldered arms on the next ball which struck middle stump. It was the cricket equivalent of falling on your own sword. Maybe he sacrificed himself to give the latter middle order more time in the middle. Or more likely, he caught a glimpse of a bikini clad Lara Bingle behind the bowler's arm.

Australia hit somewhat of a slump towards the end of the innings and looked to set a total in the low 300's, disappointing with the platform laid by Hayden, Ponting and Clarke. However, Shane Watson got things back on track, smashing an impressive 65 off 32 balls. He hit two sixes and two fours off one Gillespie over (the six over cover was sublime). Then he hit two more sixes in the final over including another beauty over cover. Not bad for an overrated pretty boy!

New Zealand's run chase was a huge anticlimax. Fleming began the run chase well, hitting Bracken over the mid-wicket boundary in the first over. But he was unlucky to be given out when Tait struck him on the arm with the ball ballooning out to the slip cordon. McGrath trapped Taylor with his first ball, pulling to mid-wicket. Pigeon now leads the World Cup wicket tally (while Hayden leads the run tally).

From there, the pressure of the run chase led to a steady procession of wickets. It also led to me giving up the ghost. Maybe if the Black Caps had a decent crack at a run chase, I might've fueled up on caffeine and stayed awake. Instead I dozed (and with ABC radio playing on the headphones, I dreamt I sat in on an interview with Malcolm Speed - very weird). New Zealand were all out for 133, a gaping 215 runs short of Australia's total.

It was a dominant win - exorcising the ghosts from the Chappell Hadlee Trophy just as the 5-nil Ashes win wiped away the 2005 Ashes. Next stop, South Africa on Wednesday night. If we take today's form into the semi-final, the Proteas won't know what hit them. If history is any indicator, Australia turn up for the big matches while South Africa tend to choke. Let's hope history repeats. As for New Zealand, they have to pick themselves up and face Sri Lanka in the semi-final. I wonder whether the loss has softened them up or will steel them for an improved performance.

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Posted by JC on Sat 21 Apr

4 comments

JC, Gilly would have smashed that ball for six over third man if you weren't watching. Instead, he holed out to third man. =P

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Posted by stumps on 2007-04-21 10:32:19

JC, You really ought to ease off Gilli...poor chap's got a job to do...and u don;t let him do that...
but that's ok now I guess....Hayden's taken over in fine style...
I havenlt been able to watch any matches..from what u've seen, has he really been able to dominate good, decent bowling too or has it often been medium paced trash?
cos I keep wondering why more captains don;t know what Vaughan did to him...put a short cover rightaway..don't let him drive...put him on the backfoot..

probably grounds are too small for him to even fear anything..wit watson's leading edge going for a six over long-on..cudn't probably get grounds any smaller..

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Posted by Karthik Ranganathan on 2007-04-21 22:50:31

Hey, that Malcolm Speed interview was interesting (no you weren't in the TMS box mate! - it's was an Aggers clone and Colin Croft as I remember). He (Speed) was very honest and had valid reasons for the criticisms of the WC like new stadia and the length of comp (TV rights of 1 game per day!) etc. Reading between the lines, it's the greedy local cricket boards who have overpriced the tickets - he was quite clear that the ICC doesn't fix pricing as it's always left up to the local level (who "know their local economy better than the ICC"). I came away with a lot of time for him.

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Posted by virtualgaz on 2007-04-22 00:07:20

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