Australia smashes New Zealand

Set a mammoth 349 to win, New Zealand capitulated for a pitiful 133 as its batsmen were bowled out in only 25.5 overs. Only Peter Fulton with an impressive 72-ball 62 offered any meaningful resistance as the Kiwis succumbed to the pace of Shaun Tait, the guile of Brad Hogg and the experience of Glenn McGrath.

Fulton was the last man out, bowled around his legs by Hogg, and shamed his teammates with the confidence and quality of his strokeplay. He deserved to carry his bat, if only as a measure of the difference between his batting on this occasion and that of his fellow countrymen. Of the others, only skipper Stephen Fleming and in-form all rounder Scott styris made double figures with 12 and 27 respectively. The former was unlucky to be given out caught in slips from Shaun Tait when the ball appeared to cannon striaght into his shoulder without touching either bat or glove before ballooning into the cordon.

New Zealand were missing the electrifying pace of Shane Bond through a stomach illness and the all round talents of Jacob Oram through injury. The absence of Oram forced James Franklin to bat at an impossibly high number six. Although a handy player, he was never the answer to the stern questions posed by such a huge run chase, especially once early wickets had fallen. As the required run-rate ballooned, and with each sides opponents in the semi-finals already well known, the New Zealand middle and lower order hit out at Hogg’s spin and were quickly dispensed with. Hogg continues to bamboozle many international players with his wrong ‘un and today was no exception, though one sensed in some of the shots played that the Black Caps were well aware that there was no need to preserve wickets for the sake of net run-rate.

Earlier, Matthew Hayden equalled Mark Waugh’s record of three centuries at a World Cup with a punishing 103 from 100 balls faced. Relishing the absence of Bond, Hayden responded to the early loss of Gilchrist to the first ball of the second over as if it were a personal insult, bludgeoning 10 fours and two sixes in his 150 minute stay.

Hayden and Ponting, who had won the toss and decided to bat, combined in a 137 run partnership until Ponting attempted to lift the impressive Jeetan Patel over mid-wicket. He succeeded only in picking out Ross Taylor at and was gone for 66 from only 70 balls faced.

The power of Australia’s stroke play was such that the 200 came up in only the 30th over, and 400 did not appear out of the question at that point. Enter Patel and Styris. Each bowled with admirable discipline to a rampant line-up and accordingly the run rate began to slow. Styris’ caught and bowled dismissal of Hayden was a particular highlight and illustrated what a valuable member of this Black Caps outfit he is. Such was his and Patel’s control that it was only the spectacular pyrotechnics of the last five overs which saw Australia push the 350 mark. Still a mighty total, but less than seemed possible at 30 overs with Symonds and Hussey stil to come.

Hussey was promoted ahead of Symonds and had a valuable pre-finals tune up, making 37 from 44 balls. He still does not look as fluent as usual, but will be better for the outing. Clarke was arguably ther most impressive of the batsmen, the certainty of his footwork from the get-go even surpassing that of Ponting. His dismissal for 49, shouldering arms to a Franklin slower ball which pitched on middle stump, hit middle three-quarters the way up and never looked like missing middle provided a comical sidelight to an otherwise tough morning for the New Zealanders.

But it was Shane Watson, returning from a calf injury, who provided the real explosivenenss at the end of the Australian innings. Often criticised for being incapable of batting down the order because of an inability to slog, Watson made the small matter of 65 from only 32 balls, including 22 from five balls faced in the hapless Mark Gillespie’s 48th over. Watson struck six, two, four, four and six in that over alone, before hitting two of the last three balls of the innings for six as well.

Watson’s cameo was an emphatic exclamation point to Australia’s innings. Aside from the first match against Zimbabwe when they made 290, every time the Aussies have batted first at this World Cup they have scored 300 or more. When chasing, the closest margin has been victory with 16 balls to spare, against England. Today’s effort was as clinical as it was merciless. Clearly the best team in the competition so far, the Aussies will enter the semi-final stage full of confidence that they can win the two games required to complete a hat-trick of World Cup trophies. Their win today was their 21st in a row at these tournaments.

For its part, despite suffering its heaviest ever loss in ODIs, it should be noted that New Zealand was missing key personnel in Oram and Bond. Whilst the manner in which his batsmen faltered when placed under scoreboard pressure will be a concern for Fleming, when a fit Oram and Bond return New Zealand remains capable on its day of beating Australia and winning its first ever World Cup.

Australia 348-6 (50)
Matthew Hayden 103, Ricky Ponting 66, Shane Watson 65*
James Franklin 3-74, Jeetan Patel 2-48

New Zealand 133 (25.5)
Peter Fulton 62, Scott Styris 27, Stephen Fleming 12
Brad Hogg 4-29, Shaun Tait 3-32

Australia won by 215 runs

Cricket Web Man of the Match: Matthew Hayden 103 (100)