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Marshall guides Kiwis to comfort

Sunday, July 4 2004

Hamish Marshall and Chris Cairns put in a professional effort to take New Zealand home in the sixth match of the NatWest Series against West Indies, thus taking them nearer to a place in the Finals.

Cairns collected a clinical 29/3 in his 8 overs, to help the Kiwis control West Indies to a mediocre score of 216. Been sent into bat first, the Windies opened with their captain Brian Lara, who made a score of 58, before his wicket triggered a collapse, induced by Cairns and finished by Ian Butler.

Lara made most of a drop catch earlier in his innings by Craig McMillan off Cairns, to record a typical half-century. However, a miscued shot off a Cairns slower ball brought about his downfall, just when it looked that he had carried his team to a position where they could push for a score of over 250.

With Lara's wicket, New Zealand bowling gained some much required momentum, and with Butler following Cairns's footsteps, Windies were reduced to 132/3, a critical position. Sarwan threatened to take them yet to a big score, but a late flurry of wickets, saw Windies all out for 216, much less than what looked possible at one stage when they were 180/3.

West Indies batsmen's running was horrible, that's the only word to describe it, as two desperate run-outs, where both batsmen found themselves at the same end, showed that serious work needs to be put in that aspect of their cricket.

New Zealand's chase got off to a perfect start with both Stephen Fleming and Nathan Astle scored freely, without taking undue risks. And even after Astle was removed by Jermaine Lawson, the Kiwis found themselves in a comfortable situation.

Hamish Marshall played his characteristic composed innings of 75*, and even after the Kiwis lost a few wickets at regular intervals to Dwayne Bravo including that of Fleming for 45, he didn't allow the Windies bowlers to gain an upper hand, unlike what happened during the first innings.

The bowlers struggled with the extras, giving away 34 of them, to help better New Zealand's chances, Lawson being the most guilty. Cairns provided the finishing touches to a relatively easy chase, by scoring the winning runs off a boundary.

New Zealand now find themselves at the top of the table, far ahead of the other two teams in the competition. They play their next match today, against England, a win in which would cement their place in the Finals of the series.

Match Summary:
Toss: New Zealand
West Indies: 216 all out (46.2 overs) [BC Lara 58(58), RR Sarwan 54(67), CL Cairns 29/3(8), IG Butler 41/3(8.2)]
New Zealand: 220 for 5 (46.0 overs) [SP Fleming 45(62), HJH Marshall 75(119), JJC Lawson 56/2(10), DJJ Bravo 36/3(8)]
Man of the Match: HJH Marshall
Result: New Zealand won by 5 wickets
Points: New Zealand 5, West Indies 1

Posted by Sudeep