Champions Trophy
Australia take charge
2009-10-05 19:14
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Grant Elliott (Gallo Images)
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Centurion - Australian appeared to be in a commanding position after they restricted New Zealand to 200 for nine in the ICC Champions Trophy final at Supersport Park on Monday.
New Zealand's hopes of winning the Trophy suffered an almighty blow when their inspirational captain Daniel Vettori tore a hamstring during their warm-up before the match and had to withdraw from the team.
Vettori, who was man-of-the-match in their semi-final win over Pakistan on Saturday, is in line for the player of the tournament award, and will be sorely missed for his bowling, his batting but mostly for his shrewd leadership.
Stand-in captain Brendon McCullum won the toss and chose to bat, on a very overcast day, but after facing 14 balls, he was caught behind without scoring by Tim Paine off Peter Siddle. Aaron Redmond and Martin Guptill went some way to rebuilding the innings, with a partnership of 61 before Redmond charged down the pitch in an attempt to sweep Nathan Hauritz, and was stumped by Paine for 26. His departure prompted a mini batting collapse.
Guptill fell four overs later, when he was caught and bowled by Hauritz for 40, and Mitchell Johnson nabbed the important wicket of Ross Taylor in the following over, with Taylor caught by Mike Hussey for six.
South African-born Grant Elliott, who was one of the heroes of the semi-final, scoring 75 not out, was unable to repeat his heroics, and was given out leg before wicket to Brett Lee for nine.
Neil Broom and James Franklin shared a sixth wicket stand of 65 as the Black Caps continued to struggle. They called for the batting power play in the 39th over, and initially, it appeared to be working for them, as they were able to up the run rate, but then a misunderstanding over a run allowed Hussey to throw the ball to Shane Watson, who removed the bails to run Broom out for 37 - his highest ODI score.
The power play claimed another wicket when Lee bowled Franklin with a yorker that smashed into his off-stump. Franklin made 33 off 36-balls, included four boundaries.
New Zealand made 40 runs from the power play, but at the cost of two important wickets.
Hauritz claimed his third wicket when he trapped Ian Butler lbw for six in the first over after the power play, and then Kyle Mills was run out for 12 as a result of a direct hit by Ricky Ponting.
Jeetan Patel was not out for 16 and Shane Bond made three.
Hauritz was the most successful bowler, taking three wickets for 37 runs, while Lee took two for 45.