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Saturday, February 21, 2015
In brief
■ CRICKET
Bragging rights to Ashburton By Jonathan Leask
Jonathan.l@theguardian.co.nz
The Ashburton College 1st XI made short work of their Mount Hutt College rivals in the Mid Canterbury Gillette Cup cricket playoff at the Ashburton Domain yesterday. Ashburton recorded a comfortable 112-run win to advance to the next round. The luck of the toss allowed for the teams to have most of the day out of class, with Ashburton batting first. Kieran Hunt made 23 off 29 while Zac Naldrett scored 21 as they produced a 52-run stand before their dismissals had Ashburton 68/3 after 16 overs. Three quick wickets from Dallas McLeod then had the hosts stumbling at 90/6. Gareth Hunt led the rear-guard with 28 before he was eighth man out at 127/8 in the 34th over. Scot Punselie then hit five boundaries in a 13-ball innings of 23 to push Ashburton through to 152 all out after 36.5 overs, with 25 extras aiding the cause. McLeod led the way for Mt Hutt with his 4/21 off eight overs while Sithum Jayatilleke
cleaned out the tail for 3/22 off 6.5. Mt Hutt were then dismissed in quick time for 40 as Sam Hall ripped through the top order for figures of 6/13 from six overs. The visitors were in deep trouble by the 11th over at 20/7, when Hall was on a hat-trick after dismissing Louis McDonald (4) and Edmund Fordyce (0) on successive balls. Tobi Dalglish top scored with 10 not out at number nine. Ashburton will now meet the winner of Sunday’s South Canterbury zone clash between Timaru Boys’ and Roncalli. Ashburton will be hoping for Timaru to get some revenge on the team that relegated them from division one of the Canterbury Secondary Schools’ one-day cricket competition. Tomorrow they meet Christchurch Boys’ High School Colts in the reserve grade.
A Kate Broadmore four brought up the win for the New Zealand women’s cricket side yesterday as they beat England by six wickets in Whangarei. England set a target of 122 for a New Zealand side who were dismal in Wednesday’s Twenty20 opener. The early dismissal of England captain Charlotte Edwards by Morna Nielsen was just the start the White Ferns needed and they held the touring side to 122 for 5. With four runs required off the last over, Sophie Devine and Kate Broadmore stood down any real threat from England’s Laura Marsh to level the Twenty20 series 1-1. - NZME
No one-day total is unchaseable now, according to pace icon Allan Donald. It’s a statement that has been bandied about in cricket circles since the Proteas famously overhauled Australia’s 4-434 in 2006. But with bat so consistently reigning over ball at the ongoing World Cup, rarely has it looked so true. “No target is safe now,” South Africa’s bowling coach Donald said. “When I played the World Cup here in 1992 it was a different animal. Guys didn’t have the skillset or the mindset of taking on a powerplay like they do now.” - AAP
Right: Ashburton College’s Sam Hall celebrates another Mount Hutt College wicket, taking six in the Gillette Cup match at the Ashburton Domain Oval yesterday. PHOTO JOSEPH JOHNSON 200215-JJ-015
Show no mercy: New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum goes after the England bowling in Wellington yesterday. AP PHOTO
played inside the line, Moeen Ali and James Taylor were yorked, Jos Buttler was enticed to edge behind, Chris Woakes played around another outswinger and Stuart Broad and Steven Finn were caught. He was essentially unplayable as he turned at the top of his mark and brought that rhythmic run-up into combat. It generated batting carnage. Brendon McCullum followed by hitting the fastest half-century by a New Zealander in an ODI, and broke his own record for the quickest at a World Cup,
Women bounce back
‘No total is safe’
Southee, McCullum bludgeon England New Zealand yesterday put together arguably their most uncompromising display in one-day international cricket, demolishing England in their World Cup match by eight wickets with, and this is not a misprint, 37.4 overs to spare. It places them with three wins from three to top pool A. New Zealand left the field at 112 for one after nine overs chasing 12 further runs to win when the normal tea-break time was enforced. They took 3.2 overs to complete the feat upon return with Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor the not out batsmen. Tim Southee produced the best bowling figures by a New Zealander in a one-day international and the sixth best in history with seven for 33 in nine overs to dismantle England for 123 in the 34th over. It was a superlative performance demonstrating the full breadth of his mastery with the ball and the precision of his wrist position as he toyed with the English batsmen. The crowd rose in appreciation and chanted “Sou-thee” in a way that hasn’t been heard since a knight called Hadlee had the two syllables of his surname chanted a generation ago. Southee underlined his status as leader of the attack. Ian Bell
Ashburton Guardian 21
completing the feat in 18 balls. He went on to 77 off 25 before being bowled by Woakes with a full toss. Fans were in a state of delirium as McCullum pummelled eight fours and seven sixes. The English pace bowlers James Anderson, Broad, Finn and Woakes had no answer. The runs per over in succession went: 9, 18, 10, 20, 10, 29, 9, 4, 3, 4, 3, 0, 6. Earlier, Harry Houdini would have struggled to get out of the vice-like grip created by New Zealand’s fielding display. The meticulous planning
flowed like a symphony in front of a capacity stadium and a few dozen taking in the sights for free from the incumbent cruise liner parked in the harbour. The controlled aggression was palpable as England were given no room to escape the clutches of the parsimonious bowling and tenacious fielding. McCullum co-ordinated the dismantlement through shrewd captaincy and omnipresent fielding. If any runs got past him, they must have donned a hat and dark glasses to go incognito. He backed his bowlers wholeheartedly by stacking the field with catchers and engaging in mental disintegration sans verbals. He had four slips for Trent Boult bowling to Moeen Ali, there was a long leg and deep backward square leg to Joe Root to get him thinking about the inevitable short ball; he closed off the legside to Eoin Morgan from Daniel Vettori. Then there was the fielding to back up what the bowlers were delivering. The skipper was backed by Martin Guptill and Adam Milne but even 36-year-old Vettori chased balls in the outfield like Jack Lovelock breasting the tape in Berlin. England looked like they were stuck at a Queen St intersection trying to cross the road with the traffic lights on the blink.- NZME
Cricket ‘afterthought’ His comeback may loom but Australian captain Michael Clarke claims cricket is the last thing on his mind ahead of today’s World Cup clash with Bangladesh as a cyclone batters Queensland. The Gabba match had been set to mark Clarke’s return from his hamstring surgery. Clarke is the only confirmed starter after the skipper refused to reveal their XI yesterday, saying it could change again if rain reduces the match. Clarke said they would not take Bangladesh lightly if they got on the field but the match almost seemed to be an afterthought for the skipper due to Cyclone Marcia. - AAP
What they said . . . “Love the way (Brendon) McCullum goes about it! Attack first, putting all bowlers under huge pressure. Always looking for boundaries not survive. #gun.” - England international Luke Wright on Twitter “England can’t get any worse,” - Former Australia captain Allan Border on TV commentary. “Kiwis beat Poms with 226 balls to spare by eight wickets. A day-night game that ends with nightfall a long way off.” - Australia’s FOXCricketLive on Twitter “New Zealand a “dark horse” everyone’s been saying, I’d say one of the front runners more like it!! #NZvENG#WorldCup2015.” - Former Australian all-rounder Tom Moody on Twitter. - AFP