New Zealand vs Australia: Kane Williamson helps Kiwis win by 1 wicket

By Anand Vasu
A pumped up, partisan crowd at Eden Park, bathed in glorious Auckland sunshine were treated to the kind of One-Day International that will never be described as the greatest ever. Such platitudes are reserved for run-fests, such as the Wanderers epic when Australia made 434 and watched fours and sixes rain as South Africa romped to 438. But, here was a game when 151 was nearly defended, in which every single ball was loaded with relevance.
A chase that should have been a walk in the park was turned into an edge-of-the-seat nail-biter as Mitchell Starc breathed life into a game that was as good as over with a late spell of heat-seeking yorkers that Lasith Malinga would have been proud of.

Brendon McCullum, struck on the arm, treated to liberal verbals, had set the innings up with a 21-ball 50 before getting out three balls later, but the manner in which Australia believed in themselves, meant that the result was certainly not a foregone conclusion. Off the first two balls of the ninth over, split by the dinner break, Starc nailed Ross Taylor and Grant Elliott.

When Starc came back on for his second spell, he breathed fire once more, taking out Luke Ronchi with a steepling bouncer, and then pushing New Zealand to the brink by detonating the stumps off consecutive deliveries, Adam Milne and Tim Southee having no chance whatsoever against sniper-precision full deliveries. Kane Williamson, ice in his veins, watched from the non-striker’s end with trepidation as last man Trent Boult kept out one ball and left another alone.

Williamson (45 not out) lined up Pat Cummins, hitting straight as a die into the stands back over the bowler’s head to seal a one-wicket win that was set up by a rousing passage on the field earlier in the day. When New Zealand’s bowling was not fast and furious, it was slow and cunning. When the fielding was not safe, it was electric. And the captaincy, oh the captaincy, it was of the kind of perfection you idly dream of but seldom achieve.

Australia, who won the toss and batted, were allowed 13 overs to think they had made the right decision before being blown away by a three-pronged attack that rendered the quickest man in the team, Milne, superfluous. With just 151 on the board, everyone in the ground, save Michael Clarke’s XI, believed Australia’s goose was cooked, even before lunch could be served. There was a touch of the boor to the crowd, who were running on adrenaline and weak beer, and there was no shortage of booing, first when Australia’s players took the field, and later, when Mitchell Johnson resorted to shortpitched deliveries aimed at McCullum’s body when all else had failed.

The crowd, however, were kept quiet to begin with. When the first six overs ended, Australia were running away with the game, at 51 for 1. Daniel Vettori, coming on to bowl the seventh, hit a perfect length from ball one, and the speed at which his left-arm orthodox fizzed through made him irresistible. Vettori slammed the breaks on the scoring rate, and accounted for Shane Watson and Steve Smith. Vettori’s class was only too evident from the time he got the ball in hand. To the pacemen went all the glory on the day, but it was Vettori who turned the tide. If Vettori got New Zealand a foot in the door, Southee and Boult kicked it out of the hinges.

Southee, who had sent down a rocket to trigger Aaron Finch’s off stump, nailed David Warner in front of the stumps. Boult then began a spell of carnage, in which he took five wickets conceding only one run in three overs. Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Marsh underestimated the pace and failed to acaccount for the swing, both batsmen dragging the ball back onto the stumps.

Michael Clarke, who returned to the XI in place of George Bailey, must’ve thought he picked the wrong moment to do so, falling for an explicitly set trap. Two short covers were in place for the uppish drive and when Boult sent down the sucker ball, Clarke obliged. If you could see his face through the helmet, Clarke’s embarrassment would have been a healthy shade of pink.

McCullum, the merciless, had not merely looked for wickets, but demanded them, and his bowlers answered the call in rousing fashion. If teams did not quite tremble at the prospect of coming up against New Zealand before the tournament began, they should now have no doubt about which the team to beat is. When New Zealand came out to bat, the fantasy continued apace, McCullum in the mood not merely to knock off the runs but to make a strong statement. Doubts had been raised over whether McCullum’s rampaging methods could be used against pacier Australian bowlers, and the answer was an emphatic yes.

McCullum brought up his half-century in only 21 balls. He was dismissed three balls later. What followed, however, certainly rattled New Zealand supporters. It was only when Williamson finally sealed the deal with almost nothing to spare, that the barmen of Auckland rubbed their hands in glee. A little over 40000 delirious people were out on the streets hours before they planned to be, and a long Saturday night beckoned. Wisden India