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| February 5, 2003 | Wednesday | Zul Hijjah 3,1423 |
Kiwis post easy win in warm-up
BENONI (South Africa), Feb 4: New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming was happy with his side’s performance after their comfortable 78-run victory over Easterns in a World Cup warm-up match on Tuesday.
New Zealand posted a total of 208 for seven in 50 overs after being put into bat on a difficult pitch, before dismissing the hosts for 130, lanky seamer Jacob Oram taking five wickets.
“I was relatively pleased with the effort,” said Fleming. “It was a difficult wicket with inconsistent bounce and I thought our total would be pretty competitive.”
Chris Harris top-scored for the New Zealanders with 51 from 75 balls, while opener Nathan Astle made 42, including a straight six and five fours, and Scott Styris chipped in with 40.
Oram completed figures of five for 35 from nine overs as the hosts collapsed, but New Zealand conceded 16 extras, 11 wides and five no balls, an area they will need to work on, according to Fleming.
Meanwhile, England scored a five-wicket-win over Eastern Province in Port Elizabeth..
Eastern Province made 173-9 from their 50 overs but England went on to win with 10 overs to spare, totalling 177-5 with impressive batting from Paul Collingwood and Alec Stewart.
England captain Nasser Hussain said that morale was high in the England camp.
“If everyone can get fit I’m quite happy with the direction we’re going in. There’s a good buzz. At practice we’ve shown a lot of enthusiasm so yeah, the camp is buzzing and that’s a good thing.”
The England skipper was particularly pleased with the way Craig White, who was a late inclusion in Tuesday’s team, came back after sustaining an injury to his thigh in late December last year.
“Craig (White) is pleased with the way he came through the match. This game was a major game for us and as far as he is concerned.”
England now face Border in East London on Thursday.—Reuters/AFP
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