The Hindu : Sport : Australia in final for the first time

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Thursday, Nov 02, 2006
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Australia in final for the first time

G. Viswanath

New Zealand goes down fighting; McGrath is Man-of-the-Match

LYNCHPIN: Glenn McGrath put Australia on the road to victory with three important strikes in the semifinal against New Zealand.

Mohali: Australia needed all its fighting qualities and some luck to get the better of its unflagging Tasman rival, New Zealand, and reach the final of the Champions Trophy tournament for the first time, here on Wednesday.

The left-handed pair of Jacob Oram and Daniel Vettori gave the Aussies the jitters after Kyle Mills had scalped four wickets to restrict Australia to 240 when it batted.

It was virtually a procession to the dressing room before all-rounder Oram and specialist left-arm spinner Vettori joined forces for the seventh wicket with only 35 runs on the board. Oram and Vettori defied the Australians for nearly two hours before Adam Gilchrist whipped off the bails to catch an off-balance Oram with his rear foot not grounded inside the batting crease.

Having added 103 runs, Oram and Vettori lifted the gloom in the New Zealand camp and the glorious uncertainties of the game looked a distinct possibility. Oram's dismissal was a big blow to New Zealand's hopes of upsetting Australia's applecart. Eventually it was a gallant loser by 34 runs.

Record partnership

Losing Stephen Fleming was a huge setback, but a record seventh-wicket partnership against Australia provided an interesting twist to the semifinal on a wicket that began to play true as the match wore on. Glenn McGrath (Man-of-the-Match) was the chief tormentor, taking three important wickets with support from Nathan Bracken and Brett Lee.

LYNCHPIN: Glenn McGrath put Australia on the road to victory with three important strikes in the semifinal against New Zealand.

Earlier, Australia was made to sweat for every run after being asked to bat on a fresh wicket.

Ponting in his element

Australia owed its survival, against an incisive spell of new ball bowling, to the show of defiance by skipper Ricky Ponting. Coming in at the fall of Shane Watson's wicket, to a rather rash shot off the 14th ball of the innings, Ponting had to bring into play his supreme technique to negotiate the swinging deliveries from Shane Bond, bowling at over 140 kmph, and an equally razor-sharp Kyle Mills.

Ponting found an able partner in Damien Martyn. The two handled the situation well, playing with steady and soft hands as well as not allowing the loose balls go unpunished.

Fleming delayed opting for the third power play by five overs after bringing in Vettori who broke the 66-run partnership for the third wicket winning an appeal for leg before against Martyn from Steve Bucknor, who had earlier turned down a few appeals against Ponting.

Ponting perhaps got a little carried away soon after punching Mills to the straight field; an over ambitious shot resulted in his soft dismissal at mid-on. It was Ponting's second half century in as many matches.

Michael Hussey, though not commanding at any time, played purposeful cricket and Andrew Symonds provided the thrust towards the end with a run-a-ball 58.

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