18 September 2004	Saturday	02 Shaban 1425

LONDON, Sept 17: Australian captain Ricky Ponting believes Andrew Symonds is turning into the complete one-day cricketer after the Queenslander blasted 71 not out against New Zealand here at The Oval on Thursday to secure his side's place in the semifinal of the ICC Champions Trophy.

Australia were set 199 to win after putting New Zealand in to bat and made it comfortably with 12.4 overs to spare. However, the end of the match presentations were marred by a running scuffle between spectators and stewards as fans tried to get onto the pitch although there was no danger to the players.

But Ponting claimed he was not worried about his players' safety saying. "It was probably a few too many beers in the sun and it is out of our hands. The security has been very good in this tournament and I hope they keep looking after the players on the field."

Symonds hit four sixes and seven fours in a 47-ball display of brutal hitting and Damien Martyn added 60 not out. The pair put on 100 for the fourth wicket to chase down the New Zealanders' total of 198-9 with 12.4 overs to spare.

"He gives you everything. In my opinion he's the best fielder in the world, he bowls off-spin or medium pace and the way he is batting suggests he has come a long way in the last couple of years.

"When he gets on a roll there are not too many grounds in the world that are big enough for him. He can go in any situation - if you've lost early wickets he can guts it out or he can finish a game."

Symonds came in with Australia 99-3 and immediately took the game away from the under-dogs bringing up his half-century from 40 balls whilst Martyn was slightly more circumspect reaching his fifty from 63 balls. But the foundations of the victory were laid by the Australian bowlers with Glenn McGrath and Michael Kasprowicz outstanding picking up 3-39 and 3-32 respectively as New Zealand slumped to 124-8 before Daniel Vettori (29 not out) and Brendon McCullum (47) got them up to 198.

Captain Stephen Fleming conceded New Zealand were never in the game. "You can't afford to fall behind and we fell behind by a long way today and we tried to catch up too quickly," said Fleming. "They have done that to us before and it's all about pressure and the tempo of the game and we did not get it right."

There was speculation before the match that McGrath might struggle to retain his place after injury but he repaid his captain's faith by taking the first three wickets. "He is one of the all-time great fast bowlers to have ever played and coming into this game I knew he would not let us down," said Ponting. -AFP