A sting in Black Caps tail as tests loom

Any win over Australia should be celebrated. Dead rubber or not, hopeless umpiring or not, New Zealand defended 241 on a two-paced surface in Wellington last night for a confidence- building one-day win ahead of the test series.

It will be a match remembered as one of those one-day games that never reached heights and, in part, for a decision by New Zealand umpire Gary Baxter that will annoy him for years.

A loss of concentration - or loss of nerve - saw him fire Ricky Ponting for a golden duck when everyone else in the ground knew it wasn't out.

Shane Bond knocked Ponting off balance with a terrific bouncer, but the Australian captain kept his hands down and the ball glanced off his helmet to wicketkeeper Gareth Hopkins.

Bond and the behind-the-wicket field went up and Baxter paused, then raised his finger to Ponting's disbelief. Of course, Ponting can't complain too much: he was dead in front in Auckland on Thursday night and not given.

Still, the decision was a black mark for the New Zealand umpiring brigade. Baxter has now joined Billy Bowden behind Tony Hill, our No 1 ranked white coat, and howlers like the one Baxter delivered last night and Bowden gave against Ross Taylor in the Twenty20 tour opener are out of place at international level.

Having bounced out Brad Haddin the ball earlier, Bond found himself on a hat-trick, but his line was wrong and Cameron White used it as a sighter.

Tim Southee then struck a double blow with umpire assistance, dismissing Cameron White to a false pull shot, then Adam Voges caught behind, though replays showed Voges missed the ball. But Pakistani umpire Asad Rauf, who denied Daryl Tuffey a certain lbw against Ponting on Thursday, was convinced.

Ponting took it all in his stride.

"That's the game, isn't it? I was answering questions about not being given out the other night. The disappointing thing was we had a couple [of decisions] go against us. But the umpires are out there doing the best they can and you've got to fight your way out of it."

Daniel Vettori brought himself on early in the eighth over to tighten the screws, a move no doubt encouraged by the way Shane Watson has fumbled about against him all series.

As New Zealand did before, Australia found batting hard work in front of a crowd of 11,587. Wickets fell at regular intervals and just as Michael Hussey (46) began to loom as a matchwinner he was bowled behind his legs by Southee in the opening over of the batting power play.

The tail had a wag, but not to any great extent, and New Zealand won by 51 runs (Australia retains the Chappell- Hadlee Trophy by a 3-2 scoreline).

Vettori was left to rue the missed chance to go 2-0 in Auckland last week.

"If we reflect back, that game in Auckland - where we bowled so well then fell over at the end - is going to really haunt us.

"But taking two games off Australia . . . not a lot of teams have done that lately."

New Zealand has bowled well this series and the bowlers were on the money again last night. Southee (4-36) was outstanding and Bond (4-26) exceptional - well backed up by Tuffey and spinners Vettori and Nathan McCullum. With the two tests around the corner Southee will take heart, especially after being slaughtered two days earlier in Auckland.

When New Zealand batted the message was to play fearlessly, but instead the fans got foolishly.

Pre-match, batting coach Mark Greatbatch had talked about courage, fearlessness and being street-smart, but they all feel on deaf ears as New Zealand collapsed to 155-6 in the 33rd over.

With New Zealand's batting remaining a major disappointment, with shot selection proving the downfall, it was left to Tuffey once again to provide a total it could look to defend. He has set himself a few batting targets; to improve his test average to 25 (currently 13) and to score a first-class century. Neither should be scoffed at.

- © Fairfax NZ News