Australia may have won their semifinal over New Zealand, but for many at the PCA Stadium here on Wednesday, it was Daniel Vettori who stole the glory. Walking in with his team tottering at 35/6 in the 15th over, the bespectacled spinner battled mightily to give the world champions the shakes, and his team the hope of a dream win, till reality returned.
For the record, Australia came through by 34 runs to qualify for the final of the ICC Champions Trophy for the very first time. Chasing 241 for the win after Australia put on 240/9, the Kiwis were bowled out for 206, their last four wickets adding an amazing 171 runs in 31-odd overs.
Australia made full use of rival skipper Stephen Fleming’s decision to bat second by ripping out the heart of the rival batting inside the first 15 overs, though the late heroics by Vettori and his partnership with Jacob Oram saved New Zealand the blushes. The Aussies were made to pay heavily for dropping Vettori, grassed by Michael Hussey off Nathan Bracken when on 5 in a score of 47/6.
The Kiwi duo thereafter put on a heroic 103 runs for the seventh wicket from just 126 deliveries — amazing stuff considering the circumstances — before Oram fell for 43. Vettori battled on till he was done in by the climbing run-rate for a valiant 79 and it is clear that Australia have some thinking to do before the title clash in Mumbai on Sunday. In many ways the game followed the pattern of the Pakistan-South Africa Group B league game played on the same pitch. The Proteas batted first, lost early wickets and thereafter made a recovery in the middle overs. When they batted, however, Pakistan were never in the hunt and were bowled out for a paltry 89.
It was almost exactly the same story on Wednesday, other than the Vettori-Oram twist in the tail.
The Kiwis made it to the sixth over without damage, and in the space of the next nine, lost the entire frontline. Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee used their contrasting pace and lines to deadly effect as New Zealand slid from 15 for no loss in the sixth over to 35/6 in the 15th. It was carnage, and superbly managed by McGrath (3/22) as Ponting went for the kill with a full 10-over spell for the canny veteran.
Earlier, skipper Ricky Ponting (58) and Andrew Symonds (58) scored contrasting fifties but tight bowling by seamers Kyle Mills and Shane Bond restricted Australia to 240/9 in 50 overs. Mills stuck to a disciplined line and reaped rich reward with figures of 4/38.
The lanky quick struck twice in his second over to remove openers Adam Gilchrist and Shane Watson, but Australia rallied on the back of three successive half-century partnerships. Clever bowling in the last 15 overs then made sure Australia would not run up an even bigger total, but in the light of what was to follow, it really did not matter.
Pegged down by Mills, Watson tried to counterattack, only to put up the easiest of catches to Peter Fulton at mid-off. Three balls later, Gilchrist was done in by a trick bouncer and lobbed the ball to Oram. In the last ten overs, the Aussies could add only 52 runs losing four wickets.
For the record, Australia came through by 34 runs to qualify for the final of the ICC Champions Trophy for the very first time. Chasing 241 for the win after Australia put on 240/9, the Kiwis were bowled out for 206, their last four wickets adding an amazing 171 runs in 31-odd overs.
Australia made full use of rival skipper Stephen Fleming’s decision to bat second by ripping out the heart of the rival batting inside the first 15 overs, though the late heroics by Vettori and his partnership with Jacob Oram saved New Zealand the blushes. The Aussies were made to pay heavily for dropping Vettori, grassed by Michael Hussey off Nathan Bracken when on 5 in a score of 47/6.
The Kiwi duo thereafter put on a heroic 103 runs for the seventh wicket from just 126 deliveries — amazing stuff considering the circumstances — before Oram fell for 43. Vettori battled on till he was done in by the climbing run-rate for a valiant 79 and it is clear that Australia have some thinking to do before the title clash in Mumbai on Sunday. In many ways the game followed the pattern of the Pakistan-South Africa Group B league game played on the same pitch. The Proteas batted first, lost early wickets and thereafter made a recovery in the middle overs. When they batted, however, Pakistan were never in the hunt and were bowled out for a paltry 89.
It was almost exactly the same story on Wednesday, other than the Vettori-Oram twist in the tail.
The Kiwis made it to the sixth over without damage, and in the space of the next nine, lost the entire frontline. Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee used their contrasting pace and lines to deadly effect as New Zealand slid from 15 for no loss in the sixth over to 35/6 in the 15th. It was carnage, and superbly managed by McGrath (3/22) as Ponting went for the kill with a full 10-over spell for the canny veteran.
Earlier, skipper Ricky Ponting (58) and Andrew Symonds (58) scored contrasting fifties but tight bowling by seamers Kyle Mills and Shane Bond restricted Australia to 240/9 in 50 overs. Mills stuck to a disciplined line and reaped rich reward with figures of 4/38.
The lanky quick struck twice in his second over to remove openers Adam Gilchrist and Shane Watson, but Australia rallied on the back of three successive half-century partnerships. Clever bowling in the last 15 overs then made sure Australia would not run up an even bigger total, but in the light of what was to follow, it really did not matter.
Pegged down by Mills, Watson tried to counterattack, only to put up the easiest of catches to Peter Fulton at mid-off. Three balls later, Gilchrist was done in by a trick bouncer and lobbed the ball to Oram. In the last ten overs, the Aussies could add only 52 runs losing four wickets.
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