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| February 27, 2003 | Thursday | Zul Hijjah 25, 1423 |
McMillan sparkles as Kiwis score easy win
KIMBERLEY (South Africa), Feb 26: New Zealand crushed Bangladesh by seven wickets with 16 overs to spare in World Cup Group ‘B’ on Wednesday to remain firmly in contention for the Super Six.
Opening batsman Craig McMillan top-scored with 75 to help the Kiwis race to their target after Bangladesh made 198 for seven, easily their best total of the tournament but never enough to threaten one of the Cup favourites.
McMillan smashed two sixes and nine fours from 83 balls before Scott Styris (37 not out) and Chris Cairns (33 not out) rapidly finished the job and improved New Zealand’s net run-rate, a factor that could decide who makes the next stage.
The Kiwis climbed to second in the group standings, level on 12 points with leaders Sri Lanka and Kenya.
“I think we were pretty anxious about the whole day,” New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming told a news conference.
“Whenever you have a break you lose momentum and there were some signs that we weren’t on song so we were pretty glad to win the game and reasonably quickly.
“I think we’re better off for the run, it’s a line in the sand to get better. For some of the players it will be a bit of a wake-up call in terms of the attitude that was taken into the game.
“We’ve got to be more intense,” Fleming added. “Just because there wasn’t much atmosphere in the middle doesn’t mean we take a step backwards, we have to create our own intensity.
Playing their first match in 10 days after boycotting their game against Kenya, the Kiwis showed signs of rustiness in the field as they allowed the Bangladeshis to bat through their full 50 overs for the first time in the tournament.
Teenager Mohammad Ashraful scored his first half-century in One-day International cricket after Cairns dropped him badly on 24, and tail-ender Mohammad Rafique finished unbeaten on 41 after a late flurry of runs.
Ashraful, who became the youngest player in history to score a Test century on debut when he made 114 against Sri Lanka aged 17 years 63 days, finally transferred his Test form to the one-day arena with a stylish 56 off 82 balls.
He hooked fast bowler Shane Bond for six and struck six fours, including a square cut off Cairns to reach his fifty, helping his side pass their previous high score for the tournament of 124.
Bangladesh, who have not won a One-day International in almost four years, looked to be heading towards another paltry total when they slumped to 128-7 before Rafique and captain Khaled Mashud chipped in with an adventurous eighth-wicket partnership of 70.
While their bowlers struggled at times, New Zealand’s batsmen had no real problems against a pedestrian Bangladesh attack, although right-arm seamer Khaled Mahmud did claim three wickets.
Fleming hit a quickfire 32, including 19 off Tapash Baisya’s fourth over, before he was controversially given out caught and bowled after the ball appeared to strike his pad.
Andre Adams added 18 at almost a run a ball before he chanced his arm once too often and gave a simple catch to Ashraful at mid-on, and McMillan threw his wicket away when he was bowled attempting a bizarre reverse sweep.
There were no more hiccups for the Kiwis as Styris and Cairns scored briskly in an unbroken stand of 61.
Styris’s 37 came off 36 balls while Cairns needed just 21 deliveries for his 33, which included a straight-driven six off Alok Kapali that cleared the stands and had to be retrieved from a parking lot.
New Zealand’s final pool game is against Canada while Bangladesh take on Kenya in their last match.
“We’re quite happy with that,” Bangladesh captain Mashud said. “It was a better performance but we still need to do better if we want to win our last game against Kenya.
“We haven’t won a game and that’s our last chance to so we want to do our best.”
Scoreboard
BANGLADESH:
Hannan Sarkar c McCullum b Bond 9
Mohammad Ashraful c and b Bond 56
Sanwar Hossain b Oram 5
Habibul Bashar c McCullum b Oram 0
Alok Kapali c Bond b Adams 9
Akram Khan c Fleming b Bond 13
Khaled Mashud not out 35
Khaled Mahmud c McCullum b Oram 12
Mohammad Rafique not out 41
EXTRAS (B-1, LB-4, W-10, NB-3) 18
TOTAL (for seven wkts, 50 overs) 198
FALL OF WKTS: 1-19, 2-37, 3-37, 4-71, 5-105, 6-107, 7-128.
DID NOT BAT: Tapash Baisya, Manjurul Islam.
BOWLING: Bond 10-1-33-3 (5w); Mills 6-0-32-0 (2nb); Adams 10-0-50-1 (2w); Oram 10-1-32-3 (2w); Cairns 3-0-17-0 (1nb, 1w); Vettori 10-0-19-0; Styris 1-0-10-0.
NEW ZEALAND:
C.D. McMillan b Khaled Mahmud 75
S.P. Fleming c and b Khaled Mahmud 32
A.R. Adams c Ashraful b Khaled Mahmud 18
S.B. Styris not out 37
C.L. Cairns not out 33
EXTRAS (W-3, NB-1) 4
TOTAL (for three wkts, 33.3 overs) 199
FALL OF WKTS: 1-71, 2-99, 3-138.
DID NOT BAT: M.S. Sinclair, B.B. McCullum, J.D.P. Oram, K.D. Mills, D.L. Vettori, S.E. Bond.
BOWLING: Manjural Islam 7-1-37-0; Tapash Baisya 8-0-56-0 (1w); Khaled Mahmud 10-0-46-3 (1nb, 1w); Alok Kapali 6-0-38-0 (1w); Sanwar Hossain 2-0-19-0; Mohammad Ashraful 0.3-0-3-0.
RESULT: New Zealand won by seven wickets.
UMPIRES: D.B. Hair (Australia) and D.R. Shepherd (England).
TV UMPIRE: B.G. Jerling (South Africa).
MATCH REFEREE: M.J. Procter (South Africa).
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Craig McMillan.—Reuters
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