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| Friday, 17 September 2004 |
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Aussies first to reach semis, thrash Kiwis by 7 wkts by Elmo Rodrigopulle reporting from England The Australians gave one helluva awesome performance to book a berth in the Semis of the ICC Champions Trophy thrashing the Kiwis by 7 wickets. In reply to the New Zealand score of 198 for 9 in 50 overs, the Aussies raced to that score in 37.2 over. The Australians who are eager to win this trophy will now meet the winners of the England/Sri Lanka game at the Rose Bowl on Friday. Although the Aussies lost the wickets of Adam Gilchrist 4 and Ricky Ponting 14 with the score on 49, the rest of the batsmen made merry hitting fours and sixes at will to post an easy victory. Matthew Hayden was unlucky not to score a richly deserved half century. He was particulary strong on the drive, but never failed to cut the short balls to the cover boundary. Hayden and Martyn put on 50 for the third wicket. After hayden went saw the best bit of strokeplay when Andrew Symonds joined Martyn who was going well. Symonds proved once again that he is the hardest hitter of a cricket ball in the game today blasting 7 fours and 4 tremendous sixes in his unbeaten 71 just 47 balls. Damien Martyn who played a steady, intelligent knock of 60 not out off 71 deliveries had 9 fours. Together they banged the Kiwis bowling with disdain to smash a 100 run stand in just 83 balls. Andrew Symods deservedly won the man of the match award. When the Kiwis went into bat after having been asked to, openers Stephen Fleming and Nathan Astle gave them a fairly good start putting on 30 without loss. The wicket looked batting friendly and held no terrors. Astle in particular was severe on McGrath Hitting him for 2 fours in his third over. It looked as though Astle was starting from where he left off against the USA where he made an unbeaten 145. With the score on 30 and when things were looking good, McGrath who was treated harshly, suddenly proved the venom in him when he struck back strongly to send back Astle and Styris with the score in to 49. Then at the same score Kasprovicsz in his first over sent back Fleming for 29. Astle and McCullum went LBW to McGrath's inswingers, while Styris was taken by Clarke in the gully. More trouble was in store for the Kiwis when they lost three more wickets while the score moved to 89. Out were Jacob Oram for 15, Chris Cairns for nought and Craig McMillan for 18. At 89 for 7 the Kiwis looked hapelessly down. Then Chris Harris and Craig McCullum put on 35 for the 8th wicket and took the score to 124 when Harris left. Then came the best partnership of the innings that added some respectability, when McCullum and Vettori threw caution to the winds and began to spray the Aussie bowling that looked unplayable. McCullum went for 47 with 4 fours off 69 balls. McCullum and Vettori added a breezy 68 in 79 balls. When the innings ended Vettori was unbeaten on a valuable 29. The Australian bowling and fielding was a fine example and they were well handled by skipper Ricky Ponting. McGrath had 3 for 39 and Kasprovivz 3 for 32. Although the wicket was on the slow side, it was not difficult for batting. It was irresponsible and unimaginative batting that made the Kiwis lose their wickets. The Aussie bowlers especially McGrath and Kasprovicz justified Ponting putting the opposition in by not letting the batsmen mount an assault. The day dawned bright and sunny with a strong wind and cold greeting the opening of this important clash, while the spectators started filling up as the game progressed. NEW ZEALAND
S. Fleming c Gillespie b Kasprowicz 29
N. Astle lbw b McGrath 18
H. Marshall lbw b McGrath 0
S. Styris c Clarke b McGrath 0
C. McMillan run out 18
J. Oram c & b Kasprowicz 15
C. Cairns lbw b Kasprowicz 0
C. Harris c & b Lehmann 26
B. McCullum c Kasprowicz b Gillespie 47
D. Vettori not out 29
K. Mills not out 3
Extras (lb-4 w-7 nb-2) 13
TOTAL (for nine wickets, 50 overs) 198
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-30 2-36 3-49 4-49 5-79
6-79 7-89 8-124 9-192.
BOWLING: McGrath 10-0-39-3 (w-2),
Gillespie 9-1-46-1 (w-4),
Kasprowicz 10-1-32-3,
Watson 6-0-32-0 (nb-2),
Symonds 10-2-29-0 (w-1),
Lehmann 5-0-16-1
AUSTRALIA
A. Gilchrist b Oram 4
M. Hayden c Cairns b Harris 47
R. Pontingb Styris 14
D. Martyn not out 60
A. Symonds not out 71
EXTRAS (LB-1, W-1, NB-1) 3
TOTAL (for three wickets, 37.2 overs) 199
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-4 2-49 3-99
BOWLING: Oram 9-2-34-1 (nb-1), Mills 5.2-0-34-0,
Vettori10-0-52-0 (w-1), Styris 2-0-9-1,
Cairns 3-0-17-0, Harris7-1-36-1,
McMillan 1-0-16-0
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