SUNDAY, MARCH 1, 2015

New Zealand edge Australia in thriller

AUCKLAND: New Zealand booked their place in the World Cup quarter-finals with a narrow one- win over Australia in a sensational finish to their Pool A match in Auckland yesterday. With six needed for win and just one wicket in hand, (45 ) hit Pat Cummins for a straight six to seal the victory, to the delight of most of a packed 40,000 crowd at Eden Park, who saw their side almost snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Australia fought back through a career-best SCOREBOARD six for 28 from Mitchell Starc who almost sealed an unexpected win for the four-times former PERTH, Australia: Completed scoreboard in the World Cup Pool B match between champions. India and the at Perth’s WACA Ground yesterday: Earlier, Trent Boultólike Starc a left-arm seam- United Arab Emirates : Kumar 5-0-19-1 (2w); Yadav 6.3- erótook a career-best five for 27 saw Australia dismissed for just 151 all out in 32.2 overs before c Dhoni b Kumar 4 2-15-2 (3w); Ashwin 10-1-25-4 (1w); New Zealand struggled to reach their victory tar- A. Berenger c Dhoni b Yadav 4 Sharma 5-1-16-1 (2w); Jadeja 5-0-23-2; get in 23.1 overs, despite skipper Brendon K. Chandran c Raina b Ashwin 4 McCullumís 24-ball 50. c Raina b Ashwin 14 India New Zealand now have four wins in as many S. Patil c Dhawan b Ashwin 7 R. Sharma not out 57 group games and on course to claim top spot in b Yadav 35 S. Dhawan c Mustafa b Naveed 14 Pool A, while fellow co-hosts Australia have R. Mustafa lbw b Sharma 2 V. Kohli not out 33 three from their first three fixtures following a c Raina b Jadeja 2 Extras 0 111-run win over England and a no result wash- b Ashwin 6 Total (1 wkt, 18.5 overs) 104 out with Bangladesh. b Jadeja 1 Did not bat: A Rahane, S Raina, MS Dhoni, The Black Caps were crusing at 131 for four but lost their next five for 15 runs in the M. Guruge not out 10 R Jadeja, R Ashwin, B Kumar, U Yadav, M space of 19 balls. The slide started with Glenn Extras: (lb4, w9) 13 Sharma Maxwell dismissed Corey Anderson for 26 after AUCKLAND: Sir Richard Hadlee presents New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum with the Chappell- Total: (all out, 31.3 overs) 102 Fall of wicket: 1-29 (Dhawan) the left-hander and Williamson put on 52 for the Hadlee Trophy after beating Australia during their 2015 World Cup Pool A match at Fall of wickets: 1-7 (Berenger), 2-13 (Ali), Bowling: Naveed 5-0-35-1; Guruge 6-1- fifth wicket. Eden Park. —AFP 3-28 (Chandran), 4-41 (Patil), 5-44 (Khan), 19-0; Javed 2-0-12-0; Chandran 3-0-17-0; Starc then dismissed Luke Ronch (six), Daniel 6-52 (Mustafa), 7-61 (Javed), 8-68 Tauqir 2.5-0-21-0. Vettori (two), Adam Milne (nought) and Tim first ball of the next over. Boult, who had figures hamstring injury, drove stright into the hands of (Naveed), 9-71 (Tauqir), 10-102 (Anwar). Result: India won by nine wickets. Southee (nought) to give Australia a sniff of an of 5-0-24-0 in his first spell, removed Glen short cover in Boultís next over and was out for unexpected win before Williamson held his Maxwell (one) off the inside inside edge and 12. nerve. then, two balls later, had Mitchell Marsh playing Boult then bowled Mitchell Johnson and Earlier, McCullum hit three sixes and seven on for a second-ball duck. Starc in his next over to better his previous ODI fours to give New Zealand an ideal start to their Australia Michael Clarke, playing his best of four for 44 against Sri Lanka at Dunedin India rout UAE run-chase. But it was Boult who derailed first international since December following a last month. —AFP Australia after the visitors won the toss and bat- ted on a flat pitch. Boult triggered Australiaís slump to 106 for SCOREBOARD by nine wkts nine, having been well-set at 80 for one. It was only thanks to a last-wicket stand of 45 between AUCKLAND: Completed scoreboard in the World Cup Pool A match between New Zealand and Australia at Auckland’s Eden Park yesterday. PERTH: India’s World Cup confidence contin- However, that rarely looked likely from the Brad Haddin (43) and Cummins (seven not out) ued to climb as they thrashed the United time they lost opener Andri Berenger in just that Australia got past their lowest World Cup Australia New Zealand Arab Emirates by nine wickets in their Pool B the second over. Berenger failed to cope with total of 129 against India at Chelmsford in 1983. A. Finch b Southee 14 M. Guptill c Cummin s b Starc 11 match at Perth’s WACA Ground yesterday. the typical WACA bounce and top-edged a Haddin was the last man out, caught of D. Warner lbw b Southee 34 B. McCullum c Starcb Cummins 50 The UAE managed just 102 after winning short ball from Umesh Yadav through to wick- Anderson after hitting four boundaries and two S. Watson c Southee b Vettori 23 K. Williamson not out 45 sixes off 41 balls. Southee took two for 65 while M. Clarke c Williamson b Boult 12 R. Taylor b Starc 1 the toss and electing to bat, the lowest ever etkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni to fall for G. Elliott b Starc 0 total against India at a World Cup. The just four. Amjad Ali and , left-arm spinner , who did a superb S. Smith c Ronchi b Vettori 4 job in slowing Australiaís early run-rate, finished G. Maxwell b Boult 1 C. Anderson c Cummins b Maxwell 26 defending champions then made it three the other two batsmen in the UAE top three, L. Ronchi c Haddin b Starc 6 wins from as many matches in the tourna- both fell for the same score as their side with two for 41. M. Marsh b Boult 0 B. Haddin c Taylor b Anderson 43 D. Vettori c Warner b Cummins 2 ment when they cruised to their meagre vic- slumped to 28 for three in the 11th over. Ali, Australiaís was in a state of chaos as A. Milne b Starc 0 M. Johnson c Williamson b Boult 1 they lost eight wickets for 26 runs in nine overs, T. Southee b Starc 0 tory target in just 18.5 overs. like Berenger, fell victim to a short ball, M. Starc b Boult 0 Although opener Shikhar Dhawan fell caught behind by India captain Dhoni off with left-arm seamer Boult taking three for five T. Boult not out 0 in his second five-over spell. David Warner, who P. Cummins not out 7 Extras:(w10, nb1) 11 cheaply to a brilliant catch in gully, Rohit Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who replaced injured Extras: (b4, lb2, w6) 12 Sharma (57 not out) and Virat Kohli (33 not fellow seamer Mohammed Shami (knee). made 34, gave Australia a confident start in an Total (9 wkts, 23.1 overs) 152 Total: (all out, 32.2 overs) 151 Fall of wickets: 1-40 (Guptill), 2-78 (McCullum), 3-79 out) enjoyed some batting practice out in the Just when it seemed pace would be the opening stand of 30 with Aaron Finch (14). But once Warner and Shane Watson (23) fell off suc- Fall of wickets: 1-30 (Finch), 2-80 (Watson), 3-80 (Taylor), 4-79 (Elliott), 5-131 (Anderson), 6-139 middle as they guided India to the win. India’s undoing of the UAE, off-spinner Ravichandran (Warner), 4-95 (Smith), 5-96 (Maxwell), 6-97 (Marsh), cessive deliveries, the innings fell apart. (Ronchi), 7-145 (Vettori), 8-146 (Milne), 9-146 impeccable form is a far cry from their indif- Ashwin tore the heart out of their batting 7-104 (Clarke), 8-106 (Johnson) 9-106 (Starc), 10-151 Warner and Watson looked well set during (Southee) ferent efforts leading into the World Cup. order. Spin rarely plays a significant role at the (Haddin) Bowling: Johnson 6-1-68-0 (1nb); Starc 9-0-28-6 The Indians were at long odds to defend WACA, but man-of-the-match Ashwin their 50-run stand for the second wicket but Bowling: Southee 9-0-65-2 (4w); Boult 10-3-27-5 (4w); Cummins 6.1-0-38-2 (6w); Marsh 1-0-11-0; the title they won in 2011 after failing to reach claimed the wickets of Chandran, Khurram Watson holed out off Vettoriís last ball of the 13 (2w); Vettori 10-0-41-2; Milne 3-0-6-0, Anderson 0.2- Maxwell 1-0-7-0. the final of the triangular one-day series Khan (14) and (7) in quick suc- over. 0-6-1. Result: New Zealand won by one wicket. against Australia and England just prior to this cession as the UAE collapsed to 44 for five, a Southee removed Warner leg-before off the tournament. However, their title defence has position from which they could not recover. been flawless so far, with emphatic wins over Ashwin finished with career-best figures of and South Africa prior to beating the four for 25 from his 10 overs as the UAE Malinga gamble starting to UAE. While they weren’t expected to be trou- added at least a hint of respectability to their bled by the amateurs from the Middle East on batting performance with an innings-high Saturday, even on a pitch that has rarely been last wicket stand of 31. Dhawan, coming off a kind to Indian teams, the way they dismantled blazing against South Africa, made pay dividends for Sri Lanka the UAE batting line-up was impressive. UAE just 14 before he was brilliantly caught with skipper Mohammad Tauqir won the toss and one hand by off Mohammad NEW ZEALAND: The toe-crusher is hitting the target, the bouncer is batted, hoping his side could set India a com- Naveed in a lone match highlight for the coming out well and, most importantly, the wicket column is swelling petitive target. UAE.—AFP again. Three games into the World Cup and Sri Lanka’s calculated gamble on Lasith Malinga appears to be paying off. Sanath Jayasuria knew exactly what he and his colleagues on the selection committee were doing when they picked the paceman with bleached, straw- coloured hair in the World Cup squad even though he was still recov- ering from ankle surgery. “A player like Malinga, we have to take a gamble because he is a match-winner,” Jayasuriya explained after naming the 15-strong squad. The 31-year-old pacer with a weird low-slung action has not let him down and three games into the campaign, Jayasuriya has grounds for feeling some vindication. True, the rust showed in Sri Lanka’s tournament opener against New Zealand in which Malinga bled 84 runs in his 10 wicketless overs. Against Afghanistan, while not the strongest of opponents, Malinga took 3-41 and looked more in control of his craft. The three wickets he claimed against Bangladesh on Thursday, however, suggested a return to his once devastating best was not that far away. “He’s getting there. He and Sri Lanka will be encouraged by what he did,” Sunil Gavaskar told STAR Sports channel. Gavaskar was impressed by Malinga’s last few overs, particularly the way he sealed Sri Lanka’s comprehensive win by trapping Taskin PERTH: India’s Ravichandran Ashwin (center) celebrates with teammates after tak- Ahmed plumb lbw, leaving the tail-ender with some sore toes in the ing the wicket of United Arab Emirates batsmen K Karate during the 2015 Cricket process. “Towards the end, he was really bowling quick, he was get- World Cup Pool B match. —AFP ting those yorkers on target as we saw with the poor, hapless number 11,” the former India captain said. The bouncer is also coming out of World Cup results and standings hand nicely, one of them accounting for the wicket of Sabbir Rahman, Bangladesh’s topscorer at Melbourne on Thursday. Pool A “He does get those number 9-10-11 just like that. So it’s coming At Auckland back and it’s good news for Sri Lanka,” added Gavaskar. Australia 151 ( 5-27) v New Zealand 152-9 (Brendon McCullum 50; Mitchell Starc 6-28) New Zealand won by one wicket TURNAROUND Angelo Mathews has seen the toil behind the turnaround from Pool B close quarters. “If you watch Malinga in the nets, he’s the one who is At Perth UAE 102 v India 104-1 ( 57 not out) working the hardest,” Mathews said on Wednesday of his pace spear- India won by nine wickets head, whose performance is crucial to Sri Lanka’s bid for a second 50- over World Cup title. Played won lost tied N/R points run rate “He bowls for hours so he can get his rhythm back. He tries very Pool A hard to do his best for the team. We all know how good a bowler he is, New Zealand 4 4 0 0 0 8 +3.589 Sri Lanka 3 2 1 0 0 4 -0.063 because the things he does when in form are immense.” Bangladesh 3 1 1 0 1 3 +0.287 Malinga’s pace has undoubtedly dropped, the rigour of 30 tests Australia 3 1 1 0 1 3 -0.305 and 180 one-day internationals has taken its toll on his body and Afghanistan 3 1 2 0 0 2 -0.760 since spin-bowling great Muttiah Muralitharan’s retirement, the pres- England 3 1 2 0 0 2 -1.415 Scotland 3 0 3 0 0 0 -1.735 sure on him to perform has also grown. The right-arm paceman him- self, however, is just focusing on fine-tuning the toe-crushers and Pool B bouncers which England’s batsmen can expect to face in Wellington India 3 3 0 0 0 6 +2.630 on Sunday. South Africa 3 2 1 0 0 4 +1.260 Ireland 2 2 0 0 0 4 +0.338 “He bowls three types of deliveries. The bouncer, the fast yorker West Indies 4 2 2 0 0 4 -0.313 and then the slow yorker. It’s very, very difficult to pick up,” former Zimbabwe 3 1 2 0 0 2 -0.827 Australia batsman Dean Jones said. “He bowls two lengths-it’s very full UAE 3 0 3 0 0 0 -1.326 AUSTRALIA: Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga bowls during the Pool A 2015 Pakistan 2 0 2 0 0 0 -2.260 or very, very short. Brilliant bowler, best in the world bowling in the death.” —Reuters Cricket World Cup match in this file photo. —AFP