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New Zealand put up a weak show against Australia in the Group A Match at the VCA Stadium in Jamntha, Nagpur yesterday. It was a one sided contest with the Aussies winning by 7 wickets and with 96 balls to spare!
Asked to bat first by Ponting under overcast conditions, New Zealand had a batting collapse at 73 for 6. They somehow managed to put up 206 on the board before getting bowled out in 45.1 overs. Nathan McCullum, who came in at no.7 top scored for the Kiwis with 52 from 76 balls (with 3 fours). He first added 48 runs for the 7th wicket with Jamie How (22 from 47 balls) and then 54 runs with Skipper Daniel Vettori who batted very well for his 44 from 43 balls (with 5 fours).
While Brett Lee bowled the best, it was Mitchell Johnson and Shaun Tait who got rewarded mostly despite bowling many bad balls. Johnson picked up figures of 4 for 33 in 9.1 overs to get the Man of the Match. Shaun Tait got figures of 3 for 35. Leg spinner Steven Smith was also impressive taking 1 for 44.
The Aussies had a racy start with Brad Haddin and Shane Watson dealing with boundaries. The Kiwi attack was torn apart with the likes of Hamish Bennett bowling some ordinary stuff at this level. Even Skipper Daniel Vettori wasn’t spared by the Aussie openers. However in the 19th over, the erratic Hamish Bennett dismissed both the openers after which the Aussies slowed down significantly to reach the target finally by the completion of the 34th over. Shane Watson was the top scorer with 62 from 61 balls with 6 fours and a 6. His opening partner Brad Haddin came up with 55 from 50 balls with 8 fours.