20 February 2005	Sunday	10 Muharram 1426

WELLINGTON, Feb 19: A superb display of pace bowling by Glenn McGrath lifted Australia to a 10-run win over New Zealand in their opening one-day international on Saturday.

McGrath captured four wickets for just 16 runs, including two in four balls when New Zealand were pressing for victory. The Kiwis crumbled to 226 all out in reply to Australia's 236-7.

New Zealand looked to be heading towards an unlikely victory after opener Nathan Astle made a patient 65 and Hamish Marshall weighed in with 76 off 69 balls. They required 21 runs off the last three overs with four wickets in hand when the Australians suddenly regained control.

Brett Lee had Brendon McCullum caught on the boundary for eight in the 48th over then bowled Daniel Vettori for a golden duck in the same over. New Zealand needed 13 off the last two overs with Marshall still in full flow but the reintroduction of McGrath signalled the end.

The lanky pace man finished Marshall's brave performance when the New Zealander played on and then he bowled Daryl Tuffey three balls later. Earlier, Matthew Hayden (71), Ricky Ponting (61) and Andrew Symonds (53) had all helped Australia give their bowlers a target to defend after the middle-order collapsed.

The world champions had looked to be cruising towards a big total when Hayden and Ponting added 133 for the second wicket but New Zealand all rounder Scott Styris suddenly ripped through the middle-order, capturing 4-40.

Australia dipped to 160-6 but Symonds and Brad Hogg (25 not out) steadied the innings with a seventh wicket stand of 69. Captain Ponting said: "Glenn was outstanding and we just did enough to win. It's a very hard place to win over here and we found that out tonight."

New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming said: "It does hurt because it was such a close game. We were out of it, came back really well - Hamish was outstanding - but we just lost our way towards the end."

The second match in the five-game series takes place in Christchurch on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Ricky Ponting has demanded a review of security arrangements for the tour of New Zealand after his players were pelted with missiles during Saturday's opening one-day match.

The match in Wellington was stopped several times after Australian players, including pace bowler Glenn McGrath and all rounder Simon Katich, complained to the umpires that they had been hit by plastic bottles thrown from the crowd.

Ponting told a news conference the security arrangements were not up to scratch. "Someone's going to get hurt," he said. "A full plastic bottle hitting someone in the eye or the back of the head...we don't want that.

"You have to have more security guys around the players on the boundary. They've got to have some sort of power, get the police involved, whatever." Former Australia skipper Steve Waugh threatened to take his players off the field after similar crowd disturbances in New Zealand five years ago.

SCOREBOARD



AUSTRALIA 



A.Gilchrist c Sinclair b Mills           4 



M.Hayden b Styris                        71 



R.Ponting c Vettori b Styris             61 



D.Martyn b Styris                        7 



A.Symonds b Cairns                       53 



M.Clarke c Marshall b Styris             0 



S.Katich c McCullum b Cairns             0 



B.Hogg not out                           25 



B.Lee not out                            4 



Extras (b-1 lb-1 w-4 nb-5)               11 



Total (for seven wkts, 50 overs)         236



Did not bat: M.Kasprowicz, G.McGrath.



Fall of wkts: 1-7 2-140 3-153 4-158 5-158 6-160 7-229



Bowling: Tuffey 8-0-47-0 (nb-2), Mills 9-1-48-1 (nb-2), Cairns 10-0-56-2, 
Styris 10-1-40-4 (w-1), Vettori 10-0-33-0 (w-2), Astle 3-0-10-0.



NEW ZEALAND 



S.Fleming lbw b Lee                      5 



N.Astle b Hogg                           65 



M.Sinclair c Gilchrist b McGrath         0 



S.Styris c Clarke b Symonds              14 



C.Cairns run out                         0 



H.Marshall b McGrath                     76 



C.McMillan st Gilchrist b McGrath        37 



B.McCullum c Katich b Lee                8 



D.Vettori b Lee                          0 



K.Mills not out                          1 



D.Tuffey b McGrath                       1 



Extras (lb-5 w-9 nb-5)                   19 



Total (all out, 48.4 overs)              226



Fall of wkts: 1-13 2-16 3-72 4-73 5-113 6-179 7-218 8-224 9-224



Bowling: Lee 9-1-41-3 (nb-3 w-2), McGrath 9.4-3-16-4, Kasprowicz 10-1-62-0 (nb-2), 
Symonds 10-0-53-1 (w-4), Hogg 9-0-44-1 (w-3), Clarke 1-0-5-0.



Man of the match: Glenn McGrath (Australia).



Second match: Feb 22 (d/n), Christchurch.



Third match: Feb 26 (d/n), Auckland.



Fourth match: March 1, Wellington.



Fifth match: March 4, Napier. -Agencies