The Hindu : Australia humiliates New Zealand

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Oct 30, 2003

Sport

Sport - Cricket

Australia humiliates New Zealand

By Vijay Lokapally

Australian players celebrate after Nathan Bracken gets rid of Kiwi skipper Stephen Fleming during their match at Faridabad on Wednesday. _ Photo: V.V. Krishnan

FARIDABAD OCT. 29. Reading the pitch is an art few have mastered and Stephen Fleming, rated an astute captain in contemporary cricket, would have discovered that he had a lot to learn in this area as his team suffered humiliation at the hands of Australia on a lively Nahar Singh Stadium track here. The win was Australia's first in the tri-series, a bonus point giving it a tally of six.

New Zealand lost by eight wickets as Australia, thanks to some incisive bowling by its trio of Brad Williams, Nathan Bracken and Ian Harvey, exposed the brittle opposition on a pitch that encouraged the seamers all day.

The ball swung a little and seamed a lot and the splendid carry meant the batsmen had to be "tight'' as Fleming said at the end of the match. The Kiwis looked out of place, even though the conditions could hardly be termed unfamiliar for them. They, however, admitted to the error in judgement with manager Ashley Ross saying the decision was prompted by the fact that batting first was considered a safer option.

Winning the toss was a predicament and Ricky Ponting escaped the torture when the coin fell in Fleming's favour. The Kiwi, having spoken of the "moisture factor'' and the "grass'' on the eve of the match, surprisingly opted to bat. And he came to grief soon as Bracken and Williams made the most of the conducive conditions to skittle New Zealand out for 97, hardly a target to trouble the formidable Australians, who have brought their best batsmen, if not the best bowlers, here.

It would not be fair to condemn the curator, Vijay Yadav, for the state of the match, which was very efficiently organised on all fronts. It was the kind of pitch that international cricketers ought to cope with and neither team actually complained.

Ponting said that he would not have expected the green on the pitch had the opponent been India but credit to Yadav, former India wicketkeeper, for preparing a pitch that had true bounce, pace and character. The ball neither jumped nor crawled and was a welcome change.

Only eight boundary hits emanated from the Kiwis as Williams and Bracken stuck to a nagging line. From the time Chris Nevin was trapped leg before to the second ball of the day, there was no respite for New Zealand. Fleming and Lou Vincent were guilty of playing shots too early and the others too learnt nothing as New Zealand was reduced to a shockingly pedestrian position. Lack of footwork and application was quite visible in New Zealand's vain struggle.

The second half of the Kiwi batting was polished off by Williams and Ian Harvey after Bracken had dented the top. If Williams was declared the `man of the match' he deserved it. He never allowed New Zealand to plan a recovery.

The Kiwis were clueless mostly. The team desperately needed someone to adapt and the exception to the procession was Craig McMillan. But Australia did not ease the pressure at any moment and the packed audience was left disappointed as Fleming's men succumbed to the guiles of Bracken, Williams and Harvey, all outstanding, all devastating. Williams picked up four wickets with a determined performance. "Good match for me'' he gushed.

The Australians put the ball in the right place and as Ponting said "bowled very well. The conditions helped the bowlers and they exploited them.'' But the Australia captain cautioned that the bowlers still had lot of work to do. "They need to cut down on the extras,'' he said. The Aussies had bowled an alarming number of wides when they got carried away in the morning.

The target was achieved in style with Adam Gilchrist typically smashing the ball around, leaving the Kiwi seamers wondering if it was the same track that made a mockery of their batting line up. Gilchrist and Ponting fell in trying to hasten the rate with the in-form Mathew Hayden hitting his 18th fifty in 76 matches.

Stung by the defeat, the Kiwis ordered a session of `nets' as the crowd melted while the Aussies basked in an overwhelming victory.

SCOREBOARD

NEW ZEALAND

C. Nevin lbw b Bracken 0

(2b)

S. Fleming c Gilchrist
b Bracken
2

(17b)

L. Vincent c Bichel b Williams 0

(11b)

S. Styris c Ponting b Williams 7

(12b, 1x4)

C. McMillan lbw b Bichel 24

(59b, 2x4)

J. Oram c Gilchrist b Bracken 0

(3b)

C. Harris lbw b Harvey 14

(48b, 2x4)

B. McCullum c Martyn
b Williams
5

(13b, 1x4)

D. Vettori lbw b Harvey 0

(5b)

P. Hitchcock c Hayden
b Williams
10

(19b, 2x4)

D. Tuffey (not out) 3

(15b)

Extras (lb-12, nb-2, w-18) 32

— —

Total (All out in 33.4 for overs) 97

— —

Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Nevin), 2-11 (Fleming), 3-11 (Vincent), 4-20 (Styris), 5-21 (Oram), 6-73 (Harris), 7-77 (McMillan), 8-80 (McCullum), 9-80 (Vettori).

Australia bowling: Bracken 9-2-25-3 (w-2), Williams 9.4-1-22-4 (w-9, nb-1), Bichel 7-0-29-1 (w-7, nb-1), Harvey 8-2-9-2.

AUSTRALIA

Gilchrist c and b Oram 29

(18b, 5x4, 1x6)

M. Hayden (not out) 51

(53b, 7x4, 1x6)

R. Ponting c McCullum b Tuffey 12

(27b, 2x4)

D. Martyn (not out) 2

(4b)

Extras (lb-5, nb-2) 7

— —

Total (for two wkts in 16.4 overs) 101

— —

Fall of wickets: 1-47 (Gilchrist), 2-90 (Ponting).