LONDON, 11 September 2004 — New Zealand crushed a plucky United States team by 210 runs as the ICC Champions Trophy got off to an explosive and predictably wet start yesterday.
Hosts England were restricted to 198 for five from 38 overs by Zimbabwe in their Group D match in Birmingham before play was abandoned to send the game into a second day.
Nathan Astle hit 145, the second highest One-Day score by a New Zealander, to power his side to 347 for four at a near deserted Oval before Jacob Oram took five for 36 to wrap up the Kiwis’ biggest one-day win.
Craig McMillan earlier struck seven sixes in a brutal 64 from just 27 balls and Scott Styris made a fluent 75.
The United States were far from disgraced in their first major tournament match, however, 42-year-old Charles Reid producing an economical spell with his peculiar bowling action.
Fellow 42-year-old and former West Indies batsman Clayton Lambert also entertained the spartan crowd with his eccentric stance and a topscore of 39.
New Zealand play Australia in what looks certain to be the deciding game of Group A, also at The Oval next Thursday, and captain Stephen Fleming said his team might be able to take advantage of the conditions again.
“There are some interesting characteristics in the wicket that we might be able to exploit next week,” he said, referring to the dead grass on the wicket that assisted spinners Daniel Vettori and Chris Harris.
England were struggling on 198 for five against Zimbabwe when the skies opened for the second time and play was abandoned for the day. The start had been delayed by four hours and the players must return today to complete the 50-over match.
The game at The Oval also began an hour and a half late and the wisdom of the ICC organizing a tournament in England in September is starting to look misguided, especially as the 2002 competition in Sri Lanka was ruined by rain.
India shared the trophy with the hosts two years ago but their chances of retaining the crown have been hit by a succession of injuries.
Top batsman Sachin Tendulkar was already missing with tennis elbow and seamer Lakshmipathy Balaji was ruled out yesterday with an abdominal complaint. He has been replaced by medium-pacer Amit Bhandari.
The Indians take on Kenya at the Rose Bowl, Southampton in the first Group C match today.
Kenyan captain Steve Tikolo lambasted the ICC for its lack of respect to his team. After reaching the 2003 World Cup semifinals, Kenya took part in the Sharjah tournament but did not play another One-Day International for 18 months.
