Match Review

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Australia clinch Chappell-Hadlee series

Australia took an unbeatable 3-1 series lead after a convincing victory in the fourth ODI at Auckland with Ricky Ponting leading the way.

Ricky Ponting won the toss and decided to make first use of the conditions with the ball. The plan seemed to have backfired as New Zealand raced away to 65 for one in the Quick start period, with Brendon McCullum firing on all cylinders. After a 63 run opening stand with Martin Guptill, McCullum added 57 for the second wicket with Ross Taylor which put New Zealand in a very strong position at the 20 over mark. But Australia came back strongly after picking up Taylor’s wicket. The hosts started to lose wickets in a hurry as Australian bowlers better their Bowling Efficiency. New Zealand found themselves in a tight spot after being reduced to 154 for six after 31 overs. A good effort down the order from Gareth Hopkins and Daryl Tuffey helped then get to a respectable total of 238 before being bowled out in just the 45th over.

A rain delay before resumption of play caused the match to be reduced by 16 overs and Australia were to chase a revised target of 200 in 34 overs. Despite losing Brad Haddin in the very first over, Australia were determined to maintain an aggressive approach in their run chase. Shane Watson and Ricky Ponting dominated the Kiwi bowlers in the First Power Play and went on to share an 82-run stand for the second wicket. New Zealand got back into the contest with the wickets of Ponting and Watson at the 15 over mark as reflected on the Castrol Index worm. But Cameron White looked dangerous once again as he dispatched the bowlers to all parts of the ground. He shared a 65-run partnership with Adam Voges for the fourth wicket before adding another 52 runs with Michael Hussey to take Australia home in just 31.1 overs.

Cameron White was adjudged Man of the Match for scoring a crucial half century in the Australian run-chase.

West Indies crush Zimbabwe to take series lead

Zimbabwe suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of West Indies in the third ODI at Antigua on Wednesday.

Impressive Bowling Efficiency helped West Indies beat Zimbabwe by 141 runs in the third ODI and the host now lead the five-match series 2-1.

After winning the toss and electing to bat first, the hosts got off to a cautious start and added just 36 runs in the Quick start overs but ensured that all their wickets were intact. They were struggling to keep the score board ticking and eventually lost the wicket of Chris Gayle in the 16th over. Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Denesh Ramdin, who was promoted up the order shared a 65-run partnership for the third wicket and put West Indies in a strong position ahead of the Extreme Performance overs. The hosts were in a position to go after every ball, with six wickets still intact. They managed to dominate the Zimbabwe bowling and added 92 runs in that period before finishing with 245 for nine at the end of their 50 overs.

Zimbabwe’s run chase suffered an early setback as they lost Vusimusi Sibanda in the first over. Brendan Taylor and Hamilton Masakadza pulled things back for the visitors with a 51 run stand for the second wicket. But Taylor threw his wicket at the end of the First Power Play and things took an ugly turn. The West Indian quicks were at their best and kept hitting the right areas, which made it difficult for the batsmen to settle in. The visitors lost another three wickets in the next four overs which meant half their side was back in the hut before the completion of 15 overs. The Windies kept coming at the Zimbabwe batsmen and picked up wickets at regular intervals before bowling Zimbabwe out for just 104 in just 31.5 overs. Darren Sammy was the pick of the bowlers with four wickets for just 26 runs off his ten overs and a Bowling Efficiency of 462.

Sammy was rightly adjudged the Man of the Match for an excellent display for pace seam bowling.