BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa, 9 March 2003 — Nathan Astle’s 13th One-Day International century got New Zealand’s bid for a World Cup semifinal spot off to a winning start as they beat Zimbabwe by six wickets in the Super Six match here at Goodyear Park yesterday.
Chasing 253 for victory, Astle, with an unbeaten 102, and Chris Cairns, 54, shared a crucial fourth wicket stand of 121 in 151 balls as the Black Caps wrapped up victory with 16 balls to spare.
The win has now boosted New Zealand’s points total to eight having carried forward four from the first round while Zimbabwe, still with 3.5, are now virtually out of the running for a semifinal spot.
However, there were still some nervous moments at the end for New Zealand. Cairns, having brought up his fifty with a six off Sean Ervine, was bowled next ball to leave his team still needing 35 off 36 balls for victory.
It was left to veteran Chris Harris, with 14 not out, to hit the winning boundary. Astle had earlier brought up his 122-ball century with his 11th four, off Ervine. Defending 252-7, Zimbabwe were always up against it after they were forced to start the second innings without leg-spinner Brian Murphy who had torn a calf muscle while practicing in the nets during the lunch break.
New Zealand captain and opener Stephen Fleming took full advantage of Zimbabwe being a bowler short as he hit a blistering 42-ball 46, with 10 boundaries, which threatened to take the game away entirely from the African side. But, four short of his fifty, Fleming fell lbw to Andy Blignaut. Travis Friend, who had already had an impact in the buildup to the match by giving teammate Mark Vermeulen a skull fracture when bowling in the nets on Friday, made a positive contribution fielding as 12th man.
He caught Scott Styris for 13 on the midwicket boundary off Blignaut to leave New Zealand on 97 for three. Zimbabwe then made a costly error when Cairns, on 21, top-edged a sweep off spinner Grant Flower only for another substitute Douglas Marillier to put down the catch as he ran in from behind square.
Earlier, Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak inspired a late run blitz with 72 not out to help his side recover to 252 for seven. Streak and wicketkeeper Tatenda Taibu, who made a career-best 53, put on 68 for the seventh wicket after the Africans had collapsed to 106 for six after winning the toss.
Streak faced 84 balls and also hit two giant sixes off Chris Harris while a total of 62 runs came off the last three overs with Sean Ervine, 31 not out, weighing in during an unbroken stand of 78 with his skipper.
Star batsman Andy Flower ran himself out for 37 as he failed to beat Nathan Astle’s direct hit while another run out saw them lose their sixth wicket when non-striker Blignaut, who had made four, was sent back by Taibu as he tried to complete a risky single. Taibu, who faced 79 balls and hit a six and three fours, was eventually out, leg-before to Chris Harris trying to flick him up and over the keeper.
Streak and Ervine Move
Beyond the Improbable
Final-over flurries are what one-day cricket is all about. But Streak and Ervine took the art from the improbable to the virtually impossible. It had taken Zimbabwe 282 balls — 47 overs — to get to a sensible 190 for seven at Bloemfontein after recovering from an early collapse.
In the final absurd 18 deliveries, Streak and Ervine added 62, including three sixes and eight fours. If Zimbabwe had managed to score at that rate throughout their innings, they would have totaled 1,033.
That might have been enough. Instead New Zealand, with Astle making a polished unbeaten century, paced their innings to perfection to win by six wickets with almost three overs to spare. No flurry was required. Kiwi all-rounder Andre Adams was the man to suffer most at Zimbabwean hands but he had it coming to him. New Zealand’s slow-medium tweaker Harris, after a fine nine-over spell of one for 22, had disappeared for 23 more runs in the 48th over, Streak initiating the blood-letting with two muscular sixes to midwicket off the first three balls. Ervine finished the over with two fours.
Left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori then saw Streak, a man who would surely have developed into a world-class all-rounder if he had not had to carry the Zimbabwean attack on his broad shoulders, produce two drives over and through the covers as 13 came off the 49th over. That was to look like miserly bowling six balls later. Adams is one of only three current batsmen in the world scoring at more than a run a ball in One-Day Internationals, so perhaps he deserved to find himself on the wrong end of the next 26 runs for once.
