New Zealand gave Australia a big scare in their Super Six game but were unable to frighten them into submission. The Trans-Tasman rivalry is pretty keen and sometimes bitter as the Aussies have always treated their southern neighbors as a little brother and like all little brothers the Kiwis have always wanted to score one against the big brothers. There’s not the same kind of tension nor the pressure that an Indo-Pak game brings nor for that matter the spice that’s there when India play Sri Lanka but the games between the Aussies and the Kiwis in all sports are keen as mustard.
The Kiwis believe that they had the better of the world champs when they went to Australia last season and but for the weather would have won a Test series there for the first time. They believe too that with the advent of Shane Bond they have the firepower to rattle the best of teams and win in any conditions. They almost did that as Bond ripped through the top half of the Aussie batting making even that feared opening pair of Gilchrist and Hayden look leaden-footed against his pace. Unfortunately, he had little support at the other end as the bowlers though bowling economically couldn’t break through the partnership between Bevan and Bichel. It was the same pair that had thwarted England and sent them packing from the World Cup with a gutsy partnership when their old rivals were on top and once again they showed that it will take something really special for the champs to be dethroned.
Bevan was his usual busy self working the ball away for the ones and twos and occasionally hitting the fours while Bichel looking like he was regular to these situations played some audacious shots to keep the score moving healthily. Then to rub it in, Brett Lee smashed the last two balls of the final over for sixes to give the Aussies just the fillip that they need to go out and defend their score. Bond was pacy and accurate and used the yorker to good effect but he was a bit tired to come in and end the partnership that took Australia to a total they believed they could defend.
Then after his senior Glenn McGrath had given the early breakthrough, Lee stepped in with a fast furious spell that had the Kiwis looking out of place out there. Only the skipper Fleming played with some comfort and but for his efforts the Kiwis would have looked pathetic.
Lee not only used the crease well but also wasn’t afraid to go round the wicket and create another angle for the batsmen to face. It’s this confidence to try different lines of attacks that makes it tough to corner this Australian attack. Harvey too played his part to perfection hardly giving a loose delivery and some of the shots played by the Kiwis begged the question of whether they were worried about injury. When the Indians were in New Zealand not too long ago and struggled on seamer-friendly pitches with a bit of bounce the media there were quick to query the class of batsmen with thousands more runs than the Kiwis in both forms of the game. The Indians don’t play domestic cricket on such pitches nor do they get to play quick bowlers regularly. The Kiwis on the other hand do so on a regular basis, so how come they flounder so miserably?
Though they lost by a big margin, the Kiwis have shown up some chinks in the Aussie batting and the keenest watchers would have been the Indians as they prepare to play them in the finals.
Having said that the resolve of the Aussies and their dogged determination was impressive and showed how deep they bat and how they come out fighting when cornered. For the second successive day the folly of putting the other side in to bat was shown up. On these good pitches it is always better to put the runs on the board than to chase them under pressure. Sri Lanka learnt it the hard way against their neighbor and here the Aussies delivered the same lesson to the Kiwis.
For the Kiwis now the match against India becomes crucial, for if they don’t win then they are out of the tournament unless of course Sri Lanka also lose to Zimbabwe. India will have less pressure in that last game of the Super Sixes because they have already qualified for the semis.
They know that it’s a winning streak that they have to maintain and so will not take any chances and of course will have the added incentive of revenge for the defeats they suffered just over a month or so ago. Brett Lee’s all-round performance makes him a dangerous player and one to watch out for but the spirited bowling of Shane Bond has shown that the Aussies are human too and not the supermen that they make the world believe they are.
Arab News Sports 13 March 2003
