The Hindu : Sport : Skipper Fleming guides New Zealand to a competitive total

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Skipper Fleming guides New Zealand to a competitive total

Vijay Lokapally

Styris, Oram and McCullum provide admirable support to their captain

— Photo: S. Subramanium

EARLY BLOW: Rana Naved-ul-Hasan celebrates the fall of Nathan Astle.

MOHALI: Stephen Fleming played the role of a leader to perfection, guiding New Zealand to a competitive total against Pakistan in a crucial match of the Champions Trophy at the PCA Stadium here on Wednesday.

With a committed Scott Styris as partner, the New Zealand skipper carried the innings to a position of strength after a shaky start when Lou Vincent and Nathan Astle fell owing to poor shot selection.

Asked to bat, New Zealand did well to compile 274 for seven, based essentially on the contributions from Fleming and Styris and some purposeful batting from Jacob Oram and Brendon McCullum late in the order.

Having earned the distinction of setting a new benchmark in captaincy — this was a record 194th appearance in the coveted position for Fleming, erasing the mark set by Sri Lankan legend Arjuna Ranatunga — the graceful left-hander enhanced his reputation as a cricketer of character by coming up with an effort that spoke of his ability to rise to the occasion.

The pitch had plenty of juice for the seamers, and as the ball darted around in the initial stages to rattle the batsmen, Pakistan struck crucial blows.

Vincent played a horrendous shot and missed the line while Astle seemed to be in a hurry to increase the rate of scoring. When Peter Fulton fell to an error of judgement very early in his innings, New Zealand faced the prospect of ending up with an embarrassing response when confronted with a sporting pitch.

The recovery was gradual but remarkable, as Fleming played the dominant role in a partnership that pushed Pakistan on the defensive. Fleming loves to take on the best and this was the ideal situation for him.

There was a method to Fleming's innings-building during the 108-run stand with Styris.

It was certainly not Fleming's best, but one of immense value to his side. He did miss the line of the ball on many occasions but stuck to his waiting game ploy to score runs mostly from drives in front.

Fluent cover drives embellished his innings that ended to a tame return catch. Fleming's 80 came off 105 balls with eight fours and a top-edged six off Umar Gul.

Gutsy all-rounder Styris now took over the mantle of guiding the innings, even though he needed a runner when his back pain resurfaced at the wrong time. Oram was willing to belt the ball and Styris did not lag behind, producing a few robust shots on the off-side to confirm his excellent form. Styris, however, perished while trying to sustain the momentum but not before putting the New Zealand innings on course.

His 86 off 113 balls contained 10 fours and, fittingly, ended to a superb catch at wide long-off.

Oram blasted a quickfire 31 off 26 balls with four fours and a six, but it was the cameo by Brendon McCullum that boosted the New Zealand innings. McCullum played a couple of astounding strokes square of the wicket in a 13-ball 27, studded with three fours and a six. It was an amazing shot for six over long-off off the backfoot off Rao Iftikhar.

Pakistan lost the advantage in the middle overs and surrendered in the last 10 when it conceded 99 runs. This critical phase saw Abdul Razzaq, hero of Pakistan's win over Sri Lanka in its first match, being carted all over in a most forgettable spell.

The pick of the Pakistan attack was the energetic Gul, who landed the ball in the right areas except in the last two overs when he went for 21.

SCOREBOARD

New Zealand: L. Vincent b Gul 3, S. Fleming c & b Malik 80, N. Astle c Younis b Naved 15, P. Fulton lbw b Iftikhar 7, S. Styris c Iftikhar b Gul 86, J. Oram c Gul b Razzaq 31, B. McCullum c Malik b Razzaq 27, J. Franklin (not out) 9, D. Vettori (not out) 0; Extras (lb-8, nb-1, w-7): 16; Total (for seven wkts. in 50 overs): 274.

Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-23, 3-60, 4-168, 5-220, 6-254, 7-270.

Pakistan bowling: Naved 8-0-44-1, Gul 9-1-47-2, Iftikhar 8-2-41-1, Razzaq 10-1-60-2, Afridi 10-0-49-0, Malik, 5-0-25-1.

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