Vettori, rain can't stop Aust

BY HAMISH BIDWELL IN AUCKLAND

Rain and the Duckworth-Lewis method did their best to throw New Zealand an undeserved bone but they were still not enough to stop Australia clinching the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy with a game to spare, thanks to a comfortable six-wicket victory last night.

The start of Australia's reply was delayed by an hour and 40 minutes because of rain, in which time Auckland's Eden Park had freshened up considerably and the visitors had been set two revised targets.

If the first Duckworth-Lewis calculation was hard to fathom, the second almost defied description.

New Zealand were bowled out for a lamentable 238 in 44.1 overs and somehow Australia were originally asked to get 206 in 36 overs. But when rain delayed the resumption in play by a further 10 minutes, that had been adjusted to 200 off 34.

That looked an even taller order after Shane Bond bowled a searching opening over that yielded the wicket of Brad Haddin for a first-ball duck. Out came a bristling Ricky Ponting and back he should have gone on 19, when Daryl Tuffey trapped him dead in front. The appeal was thunderous but umpire Asad Rauf was unmoved and the Aussie captain stayed.

It took opposite number Daniel Vettori to dismiss him, for 50 off 35 – it was just a shame that the left-arm spinner couldn't be bowling at both ends. His first spell of two for 15 off four overs was truly magnificent and as long as he had the ball in his hand, New Zealand looked a chance.

But Australia were not to be denied, eventually bringing up the winning runs with 17 balls to spare.

Earlier, the pre-match fears that the Black Caps innings could resemble three-out, all-out, were realised.

By grouping Brendon McCullum, Martin Guptill and Ross Taylor together at the top of the order, New Zealand gambled on at least one of them going on to post a substantial score.

McCullum came closest, with 61 from 75 balls, but support was scant. Guptill played a bright innings, as he often does, and then gifted his wicket away, as he almost always does. His 30 from 32 balls enabled the Black Caps to reach 63 inside seven overs.

The problem is that while the team continues to score at a decent rate, they lose wickets just as swiftly.

Taylor, Shanan Stewart, McCullum, Scott Styris and Vettori all perished during an 11-over period in which New Zealand lost five for 34.

That was a problem coach Mark Greatbatch said the team had addressed. Clearly further discussion is required.

Batting at No4 on debut, Stewart was justifiably nervous and tried to get underway with a series of dabs and glides. He knows better than anyone that his game is more about using the full face of the bat and hitting down the ground, which he eventually tried.

Sadly for him, the most bat he could get on Nathan Hauritz was the toe, as he holed out to Shane Watson at long-on for four.

The curious case of James Franklin merits a mention, after another forgettable day in his career. Just two games ago the team hierarchy were of the opinion that the left-hander was a dead-set batsman.

But from the lofty heights of five in the batting order, he was shunted to eight yesterday and might find himself occupying No9, after a Tuffey cameo that helped bring a degree of respectability to New Zealand's innings.

His breezy 34 from 17, which included three consecutive sixes off Hauritz's eighth over, not only helped the team post a total approaching substance, but also showed just how lacklustre Franklin's effort of 10 off 27 balls had been yet again. It couldn't change the net result, though, which was that New Zealand had been bowled out well inside their allotted 50 overs for the second game running.

SCOREBOARD

NEW ZEALAND

B McCullum c White b Hauritz61 M Guptill c Ponting b Watson30 R Taylor c Hussey b Hopes15 S Stewart c Watson b Hauritz4 S Styris c and b Hopes8 D Vettori lbw b Johnson12 G Hopkins c Haddin b Watson20 J Franklin b Hauritz10 D Tuffey c and b Harris34 S Bond c Hauritz b Johnson19 T Southee not out1 Extras (9lb, 13w, 2nb)24 Total (44.1 overs)238 Fall: 63, 120, 128, 130, 152, 154, 177, 213, 236, 238. Bowling: R Harris 7-1-37-1 (1w), D Bollinger 5-0-34-0 (2nb), M Johnson 8.1-0-40-2 (4w), S Watson 6-1-34-2, J Hopes 10-0-38-2 (2w), N Hauritz 8-0-46-3.

AUSTRALIA

S Watson lbw b Vettori32 B Haddin c Styris b Bond0 R Ponting lbw b Vettori50 C White not out50 A Voges c Vettori b Franklin34 M Hussey not out28 Extras (6lb, 2w)8 Total (4wkts; 31.1 overs)202 Bowling: S Bond 6-0-28-1 (1w), T Southee 5.1-0-55-0, D Tuffey 5-0-38-0 (1w), D Vettori 7-1-29-2, S Styris 5-0-20-0, J Franklin 3-0-26-1.

- © Fairfax NZ News