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Previous Stories Why Cricketers Are More Sporting Than Golfers A cracking tournament in Dhaka New Zealand cricket is on track Taranaki Ignore the Distractions An Extraordinary Sporting Family Another New Cricketing Experience Dave Eats His Crow - A First Time For Everything Black Caps Are Not Strictly For The Birds Not Beefing, Just Disappointed There Are None So Blind That Will Not See A Matter of A Satisfactory Start Horse Laughs and Crocodile Tears A Slow Over Rate Means A Slow Team
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Fleming's correct call gave New Zealand a flying start toward their target of dismissing Scotland for 120. It meant that the Kiwi seamers were able to dig straight into the hapless Scotties who were soon 3 down for 12. At this point Gavin Hamilton, Scotland's most proficient player and a regular professional with Yorkshire, did his share of digging in and was helped by Stanger in a useful partnership of 54. Throughout this period the New Zealand attack wavered between excellence and a curious lack of concentration. It was again surprising that Nash opened the bowling with Allott but this time he obtained enough movement to be really dangerous. Allott justified his position as the leading wicket-taker at this World Cup but when the two were spelled by Cairns and Bulfin the Scots took their chance to cash in on some badly directed deliveries. The experiment with Bulfin was not a success. I was amazed that Doull, ranked sixth best bowler in the world, was not required for this needle match. He has been expensive in the past but has a high strike rate, exactly the requirement for today. Bulfin has played only two or three times before and as in this match, has been held back and brought on as a change bowler. This has not helped his confidence any, and he has been wild and costly. Six overs for 31 could have been disaster for New Zealand. It seems as though he is selected and then discarded, for there is only one place where he should bowl. That is first, downwind, and as fast as he can. Using him as a change is telling him he is really a supernumerary. Harris and Allott, who both achieved extraordinary figures, did the job of dismissing Scotland. Allott has bowled consistently through the Cup, his ability to swing across and then into the batsmen keeping them constantly guessing. Harris has not had much joy thus far, but showed his skill at teasing and dealing to lesser batsmen with his flighted legcutters that never seem to quite arrive. The task of knocking off the runs was made light by the ebullient Roger Twose, described as the British star of the World Cup. He rode his luck, survived three chances and smote hard and high in between frenetic swishes that sometimes helped convince the umpires about wides. He provided a highlight when called through for the cheekiest of singles. By keeping his body in line with the stumps he was effectively protecting his castle, and he made doubly sure by tripping and crashing into them amidst general hilarity. So the Super Six are found, with New Zealand taking a rightful place when Cairns smashed a super six to complete the win over Scotland with more than four overs still available to achieve the required run rate. It has been a novel concept, with the points won against other qualifying teams carried forward. This has brought the astonishing result that Zimbabwe lead Group A with four points, although qualifying only third on run rate. New Zealand by dint of its famous win over Australia lies second in Group B with two points, and the Australians have none. This is particularly ironic when Australia made such a devious effort to ensure the qualification of the West Indies. The latter were, along with England and Sri Lanka, disappointing in this Cup, for their form at home against Australia had indicated a revival. Again they depended too much on Lara for runs and Ambrose for wickets, and lacked real class in their backup players with one exception. This was Ridley Jacobs, who kept wicket with skill and expert hands, and batted with true determination. He showed mastery over the hitting game and also knew how to survive, achieving the rare feat of batting right through a World Cup innings. England were a shade unlucky to miss by a narrow margin, but could only blame themselves. Their selection policy never looked suitable, for they chose aging allrounders with few elements of class. Sri Lanka were already too old, for only two of their squad had not played in the cup winning team of 1996, and they lacked the necessary injection of youth and enthusiasm. India enter the next round with no points but have their team firing on all cylinders now. The bowling order is much more effective when Prasad and Kumble bowl after the 15 over point. Mohanty has introduced devil and desire to support the dependable Srinath and Ganguly has produced some telling bowling spells. It is the Indian batting that may yet carry the day. Dravid, Ganguly, and Tendulkar are among the three highest scorers and that means that Azharuddin and Jadeja are still fresh and ready. The match with Australia at The Oval will be crucial to both teams as they lag behind the others on points. Australia now look to be on song and the contest between their fine bowlers McGrath and Warne with the Indian batting princes will be absorbing. The interesting feature of these points is that Zimbabwe need win only one game to qualify for the semifinals. That may come at Headingley when they meet New Zealand, but my feeling is that the New Zealanders, who have a strong record over Zimbabwe, may seize this chance to draw level on points. In between times South Africa will meet up with Pakistan at Trent Bridge. Some feel this is a preliminary final but I have not been impressed yet with the South African top order batsmen. They will find the Pakistani attack difficult in the likely conditions at Nottingham, where pace and seam are major weapons. The Pakistanis have these in abundance but there is no doubting the determination and fighting character of the Proteas. This is becoming a fascinating competition. I just can't resist wondering how it is that Pakistan can lose to Bangladesh when there was nothing on the result? Or was there? Send Dave your bets on this... | ||||||
