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| February 23, 2006 | Thursday | Muharram 24, 1427 |
Vettori leads Kiwis to narrow victory
QUEENSTOWN (New Zealand), Feb 22: An unbeaten half century by Daniel Vettori ensured a three wicket victory for New Zealand in their One-day International against the West Indies on Wednesday after a top order collapse threatened to put the modest target beyond reach.
The West Indies could only manage 200-9 after batting first but their opening bowlers Fidel Edwards and Ian Bradshaw reduced New Zealand to 13-4 before a lower order fightback saw New Zealand safely to 204-7 and a 2-0 lead in the five match series.
After losing their first wicket with 10 on the scoreboard, reaching 13 proved unlucky for the home side, with three wickets falling without another run being added.
Both Peter Fulton (49) and wicket-keeper Brendon McCullum (45) were unlucky not to reach their half centuries after setting the New Zealand innings back on course.
McCullum in particular was in a belligerent mood, hitting his runs at better than a run a ball. He did most of the damage when 22 runs were taken off Jerome Taylor in the 17th over in what may have been the turning point.
After McCullum’s arrival at 49-5 in the 15th over, he and Fulton put on 71 runs for the sixth wicket.
But Vettori, relying heavily on cleverly angled shots behind square, and James Franklin (15 not out) put on 61 runs as the West Indies ran out of ideas on how to grab back the initiative.
The loss means the beleaguered West Indies have now been beaten in 15 out of the last 17 completed One-day Internationals they have played.
The best of their bowlers were Edwards, who finished with 2-41 from his 10 overs while Bradshaw took 2-31 from 10.
New Zealand made the most of winning the toss to put the West Indies in and restrict them to 200-9 in the match played in New Zealand’s South Island tourism centre.
New Zealand’s pace attack made the most of cool, overcast conditions, finding movement through the air and off the pitch to make life difficult for the West Indies’ top order.
Speedster Shane Bond appeared to be near his best to take 2-23 off his 10 overs, Michael Mason also picked up a pair and left-arm spinner Vettori displayed his usual immaculate control to record 1-28 from his 10 overs.
The West Indies stumbled to 10-2 in just over 10 overs. Whenever the tourists looked to be finding their feet, a wicket would fall to keep the pressure on.
Their total of 200 was seven less than they could muster in their 81-run loss to the hosts in the first match of the five game series in Wellington at the weekend.
The West Indies had Wavell Hinds to thank for reaching a reasonably respectable total. Hinds mixed careful defence and aggression against the loose ball to top score with 76, while Runako Morton provided an anchor in the early and middle stages with a patient 39.
Scoreboard
WEST INDIES:
C.H. Gayle b Bond 0
D. Ganga c McCullum b Mason 7
R.S. Morton c Astle b Vettori 39
R.R. Sarwan c McCullum b Mason 14
S. Chanderpaul b Franklin 17
W.W. Hinds c McCullum b Bond 76
D.R. Smith run out 19
D. Ramdin not out 11
I.D.R. Bradshaw b Patel 5
F.H. Edwards run out 2
EXTRAS (B-4, LB-2, W-1, NB-3) 10
TOTAL (for nine wkts, 50 overs) 200
FALL OF WKTS: 1-5, 2-10, 3-37, 4-60, 5-130, 6-158, 7-184, 8-197, 9-200.
DID NOT BAT: J.E. Taylor.
BOWLING: Franklin 10-2-28-1 (2nb, 1w); Bond 10-4-23-2; Mason 8-1-32-2 (1nb); Styris 6-0-51-0; Vettori 10-1-28-1; Astle 4-0-18-0; Patel 2-0-14-1.
NEW ZEALAND:
L. Vincent b Bradshaw 5
J.M. How lbw b Edwards 0
N.J. Astle c Hinds b Edwards 2
S.P. Fleming lbw b Bradshaw 0
S.B. Styris c Gayle b Taylor 10
P.G. Fulton c Ramdin b Lewis 49
B.B. McCullum run out 45
D.L. Vettori not out 53
J.E.C. Franklin not out 14
EXTRAS (LB-8, W-14, NB-4) 26
TOTAL (for seven wkts, 42 overs) 204
FALL OF WKTS: 1-10, 2-13, 3-13, 4-13, 5-49, 6-120, 7-141.
DID NOT BAT: S.E. Bond, J.S. Patel.
BOWLING: Edwards 10-1-40-2 (4w); Bradshaw 10-2-31-2 (2w); Taylor 5-0-40-1 (3nb); Smith 3-0-18-0 (2w); Gayle 8-0-38-0 (1w); Lewis 6-0-29-1 (1nb, 1w).
UMPIRES: B.F. Bowden (New Zealand) and R.E. Koertzen (South Africa).
TV UMPIRE: A.L. Hill (New Zealand).
MATCH REFEREE: M.J. Procter (South Africa).
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Daniel Vettori.
NEXT MATCH: At Christchurch on Saturday.—Agencies
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