Australia Clinch Thriller

Andrew Symond's lusty hittings saved the blushes for Australia as the world champions relied ontheir batting depth to script a thrilling two-wicket victory over New Zealand and romp into the final of theTVS Cup triangular series at Pune today.

Chasing a competitive 259 for a victory, the formidable Australians managed to overhaul the target with just one ballto spare riding on Symonds breezy 39-ball 37 after the young Michael Clarke pulled the team out of the pits in anail-biting contest stretched to the wire.

The Aussies needed 21 runs off the last 12 balls and the Kiwis had themselves to blame for not being able to makeamends for the Faridabad fiasco as they dropped two catches in the last over.

While Symonds capitalised on two dropped chances to take his side to victory, the 22-year-old Clarke gave ample displayof his class with a sparkling knock of 70 and pile on the misery on their trans-Tasman rivals for the second time infive days.

The world champions have assured themselves of a berth in the final by securing 18 points from four matches whileIndia were placed second with eight points from three outings. New Zealand have just four points from four matches.

The Kiwis raised hopes of avenging the Faridabad defeat by reducing the Australians to a precarious 65 for four butClarke and the experienced Michael Bevan (50) changed the complexion of the game with a determined 108-run partnershipto put the Aussies on course again.

Put into bat, New Zealand overcame a top-order batting collapse to post a healthy 258 for nine in their allotted 50overs with Jacob Oram leading the spirited fightback with a career-best 81.

Brendon McCullum (51) and captain Stephen Fleming (40) were the other notable performers on a track which provided agreat deal of assistance to the pace bowlers in the morning.

The match became very exciting in the closing stages of the Australian reply as the Kiwis not only managed to containthe run rate but also took wickets at regular intervals.

Symonds, who was dropped by Lou Vincent on one with the Australian score on 176 for five, took a single off Oramin the penultimate ball of the innings to send his teamates into a frenzy.

Spinner Daniel Vettori gave away 17 runs in the 49th over to ease the pressure on the Australians who have now won theirlast three matches in the tri-series. 

The Australian run chase began on a dismal note as they lost the in-from Matthew Hayden (9), Adam Gilchrist (25),Ricky Ponting (16) and Damien Martyn (10) in quick succession to slump to 65 for four by the 15th over.

But Clarke and Bevan showed no signs of nerves as they performed the salvage act with a 108-run partnership to putthe world champions back on track on a pitch which became increasingly slower as the day wore on.

Clarke, promoted in the batting order, began cautiously before opening up to exhibit some glorious shots on both sidesof the wicket while Bevan was quite content to keep the scoreboard moving with gentle nudges and pushes.

The right-handed Clarke steered Chris Harris to the third man boundary to notch up his third half century in one-dayinternational and picked up Vettori for special treatment clobbering him for 11 runs in his second over.

Speedster Daryl Tuffy, who did the bulk of the damage to the Australian top order, broke the partnership by evictingClarke who inside-edged the ball onto his stumps. Clarke struck eight boundaries and a six during his 80-ball 70.

The Kiwis kindled their victory hopes by getting rid of Bevan a few overs later with Chris Cairns plotting his downfall for a 72-ball 50 which contained five boundaries and a six.

After Ian Harvey (19) and Andrew Bichel (9) also threw their wickets, it was left to all rounder Symonds and BradWilliams to take the Australians to the victory target in the tension-ridden last fewovers.

Put into bat, the Faridabad spectre returned to haunt the Kiwis as they were reduced to 68 for five in 15 overs before adogged fightback by Fleming (40) and career-best knocks by Oram and McCullum rendered respectability to the New Zealandtotal.

While Oram made an 89-ball 81 with the help of 12 fours and a six, McCullum remained unbeaten on a 47-ball 51 (6x4,1x6).

It looked all too familiar to what happened in the teams' previous match at Faridabad last week when New Zealand werebowled out for 97 in 34 overs by the awesome Aussies.

But this time the Kiwis stemmed the rot and did well to bat out the 50overs.

The overnight moisture and dew meant the Aussie quickies got a lot of assistance from it early on as was evident in theway the Kiwi bastmen -- Chris Nevin (0), Lou Vincent (1), Scott Styris (0) and Craig McMillan (0) -- followed one afterthe other to the pavilion.

But as the match progressed the pitch eased up and batting was made to look easy by Fleming and Oram who put on62 runs for the sixth wicket.

The delightful knock by McCullum capped the creditable effort by the Kiwis and ensured their bowlers would have atotal to back them up against their rivals.

PTI