INDOOR
CRICKET WORLD
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World Cup 2002
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RESULTS |
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GAME 3 MEN NEW ZEALAND vs ENGLAND
With previous results in mind, New Zealand go into this game as solid favourites. The result of this game will go a long way toward showing just how competitive England will be during this tournament. Result (Teams mentioned in the order they batted):
England started this game extremely well, putting a great deal of pressure on the New Zealand batsmen with some fine bowling and excellent fielding. New Zealand's openers, Robbie Bird and Brendon Donkers, were 13 after two overs, but a runout and bowled in Adam Breakspear's over (the third) for -5 off the over, followed by 5 off the next left them with a partnership of 13. They faced 3 third-ball situations, but managed to survive each of them. Graham Murray and Mark Calkin fared little better for their first three overs as England continued to bowl and field well. Some solid batting in the eighth over (Andy Walton's) saw this pair recover from 12 after 3 overs to a partnership of 26. They faced just one third-ball situation, which they survived. New Zealand were 39 after 12 overs, well short of what this usually strong batting side should expect from half of its innings. The third pair of Paul Harmon and Guy Coleman mirrored the preceding pair almost exactly, taking 15 from their first three overs, only to recover in their last over and come off the court with a partnership of 26 also. They faced 4 third-ball situations, and survived each of them. England's bowling continued to shine during this partnership--the first 2 scored came off the fourth ball of their third over. Up until then the partnership had contributed 9 singles and 10 "dot balls" (balls from which there was no score) from 19 deliveries faced. However, despite this very low scoring rate, the batsmen had not lost a wicket, and they did not lose a wicket for their entire stay on court. New Zealand had sustained its recovery to be 65 after 12, but were still in a susceptible position.
Gareth Irwin and Leigh Kelly started more positively than all the previous pairs, adding 18 from the first two overs faced. But England were not done, and a runout on the last ball of the 15th over (from a third-ball situation) saw the scoring restricted to five. Ian Walker bowled the last over of the New Zealand innings, having Leigh caught on the second ball. Two balls later Leigh responded with a 5, and 3 balls later England again replied with a runout. The last pair scored 22, faced 2 third-ball situations (losing a wicket on one), and New Zealand had a total of 87. England should have been reasonably pleased with New Zealand's score, although they would have rued the fact that they failed to take a wicket from the 7th ball of the 7th over to the last ball of the 15th, despite forcing 6 third-ball situations in that time. They only managed to take a wicket on the last of them. That's just over 8 full overs without a wicket, during which New Zealand scored 71 runs. Even though England's bowlers forced a high proportion of singles and "dot" balls, the dearth of wickets cost them dearly (they took a total of 8 wickets in New Zealand's innings). New Zealand put the English team under extreme pressure in the first over. A runout, a successful third-ball, and a bowled in four balls, for a total of -11 off the over put the England openers (Andy Walton and Richard Wyld) under the hammer immediately. Another successful third-ball, plus a bowled, followed in the second over (Leigh Kelly), plus three wickets in the third (Paul Hermon), and England were -28 after 3 overs. No wickets fell in the fourth over, but England had slumped to an opening partnership of -21. They now needed 109 from the remaining 12 overs. New Zealand's total had become huge. England's second pair of Michael Edmond and Danny Spasic batted positively, losing just the one wicket (runout) in their third over. They came off the court with a fine partnership of 30 runs, the highest for the match. But that still left 79 runs required from 8 overs. The remaining 2 pairs had to both score around 40, a tall order against a team like New Zealand. And a tall order it proved. Tom Windscheffel and Simon Roberts survived a third-ball in their first over, but failed to negotiate one in their second. A catch and a runout in their third over, and a catch in their fourth resulted in a 12 run partnership. England were 21 after 12 overs, and the game was over. Ian Walker and Adam Breakspear suffered a fate similar to the England openers, losing 3 wickets (one catch, two runouts) in their first over (Gareth Irwin). Although they didn't lose another wicket until the last over (runout), their partnership was finally 12 runs, leaving England with a total score of 33. New Zealand lost 8 wickets, and survived 8 out of 9 third-balls. England lost 17 wickets, and survived 3 of 6 third-balls. A comprehensive win to New Zealand, and some food for thought for England re: converting third-balls to wickets. |
