Australia gave another demonstration of their cricketing might as the world championsrelied on some disciplined bowling to fashion a 44-run victory against New Zealand in the TVS Cup triangular seriesat Guwahati today.
Chasing a modest target of 226 for victory, New Zealand could never really find their bearings after a top-ordercollapse to fold up for 181 in 45.3 overs and give the Aussies their fourth consecutive victory in the series.
The Black Caps, who desperately needed a win to bolster their chances of making it to the final, enjoyed an upper handin the early stages of the contest by reducing the Aussies to 61 for four but the world champions fought their way out withcharacteristic grit to maintain their supremacy over their trans-Tasman rivals.
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The Aussies, who have already assured themselves of a berth for the November 18 final in Kolkata, widened the leadatop the points table with 23 points from five outings.
New Zealand, who managed to gain a bonus point today, climbed to the second position with ten pointsfrom five matches.
The Kiwis will now have to battle it out for the other finalist's spot with India who have nine points from four outings.
Put in to bat, Australia weathered an early storm to post a modest 225 for seven, mainly built around a resoluteunbeaten 84 by Michael Bevan. Skipper Ricky Ponting was the other notable contributor witha 84-ball 52.
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The Kiwis' run chase began on a disastrous note as they lost opener Chris Nevin when the score was on seven and couldnot really recover from the early jolt as wickets kept tumbling at regular intervals.
Speedster Nathan Bracken, who has been quite impressive right through the series, put the world champions in controlby getting rid of Nevin with a gem of a delivery which saw Ponting taking a smart catch in second slip.
Captain Stephen Fleming and Lou Vincent tried to steady the ship by negotiating the two Aussie new ball operatorsBracken and Michael Kasprowicz without taking too many risks.
Fleming executed some glorious shots picking up Bracken for some special treatment by clobbering him for twoconsecutive boundaries.
The second wicket pair put on 31 runs before Bracken struck again by evictingVincent who has been struggling with the bat right through the triangular series.
The right-handed Vincent was foxed by a slower delivery by Bracken as heattempted to play on the leg side and Brad Hogg gleefully held on to a simple catch at point.
A big blow awaited the Black Caps six overs later when Fleming was deceived by a slower ball by Ian Harvey,much to the jubilation of his teammates.
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Fleming, who appeared quite comfortable in the middle, failed to read the slower delivery and offered a simple returncatch to the bowler. His 46-ball 29 contained four boundaries.
The dismissal of Fleming triggered off a collapse as Craig McMillan (0) and Jacob Oram (14) returned to thepavilion in quick succession.
Speedster Andy Bichel, who was introduced into the attack in the 13th over, accounted for the hard-hittingMcMillan who had guided New Zealand to a stunning four-wicket victory with an unbeaten 82 against India in the last match inCuttack.
McMillan was a trifle unlucky to be given out by umpire K. Hariharan as the ball appeared to hit his pad before sailinginto the hands of Jimmy Maher behind the stumps.
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Left-arm spinner Hogg then compounded New Zealand's misery by plotting the dismissal of the lanky Oram toleave the Kiwis tottering at 88 for five in the 22nd over.
Hogg found success in his very first over as he trapped Oram plumb in front of the wicket with a flipper, allowing theAussies to tighten the noose around their rivals.
The experienced Scott Styris and Chris Harris then made a valiant effort to put theinnings back on track in the face of some tight and disciplined bowling by the Aussies.
The sixth wicket pair raised hopes of a spirited fightback by stitching 55 runs before Hogg broke the partnership by sending Styris (54) back to the dressing room with Ponting taking the catch at short mid-wicket.
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Earlier, the famed Australian batting line-up, without the services of Adam Gilchrist andMatthew Hayden who were rested for this match, did reasonably well to recover from theearly jolts to post 225 for seven in their allotted 50 overs.
The Kiwi seamers Daryl Tuffey and Kyle Mills struck early blows to have Australia on the mat at 61 for four afterFleming made the right call at the toss and elected to field.
But saving the champion side from further trouble was the duo of Bevan (84 not out) and Ponting (52) who stitchedan invaluable 78-run partnership for the fifth wicket on a pitch which offered a fair amount of help to the seamersinitially as it has been the trend in all the day matches played so far in thetri-series.
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However, some disciplined bowling and neat fielding did not allow the Australians to consolidate and post a biggertotal in what was an inconsequential match for them.
Left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori extracted some turn from the wicket and got rid of Ponting and Clarke within a space oftwo runs at a crucial stage to reduce the Aussies to 141 for six in the 34th over. He returned the most impressive figuresof 2 for 20 off his ten overs.
PTI
