New Zealand defy the weathermen (12 June 1999)

12 June 1999

New Zealand defy the weathermen

Trevor Chesterfield

Nottingham (England) - Sense and sensibility was all New Zealand needed to earn their place in the World Cup semi-finals next week with Adam Parore leading the charge at Trent Bridge.

Depending on the outcome of tomorrow's South Africa game against Australia, the Super Six series was kept alive to the end as the Kiwis won by five wickets with 10 balls to spare, reaching the 272 runs needed.

Not that it looked as easy as it seemed until Javagal Srinath, from the Radcliffe end, delivered the sort of nightmare over which probably put Mohammad Azharuddin, in his moments as captain of the India World Cup side, in agony, though he managed to appear calm.

Parore picked off three fours through the leg side as Srinath's line and direction went AWOL at the wrong time for India. The greasy ball slipped through groping fingers and skidded over the boundary.

Yet it was Twose, man of the match for the second time this series for New Zealand, who did much to engineer the victory. He has been called a number of names, bulky is one, tubby another and Twoseome is another. The former Devon-born and Warwickshire batsman had played a big hand in the win over Australia which saw New Zealand stake a firm claim for the semi-final place. He scored an undefeated 60 and Cairns 26 not out in a partnership of 35 off 18 balls in that game, at a sufficiently frenetic pace to win the game.

Horne also played his part. Apart from the dash of hara-kiri when he ran himself out, it was as though he had it in mind to bat through the innings. Having reached his first half-century of the tournament with some crisp strokeplay and working the ball into the gaps, Horne had a lapse of concentration. Either that or he felt that Nikhil Chopra, substituting for Ajay Jadeja, does not have the class of some of his more experienced teammates. Fielding to his right at mid-on off Sachin Tendulkar's bowling he did not have too much time to take aim, but it was the sort of bull's eye throw which does not require the umpire to seek a third umpire's review of the replay.

Horne was convinced he was out and was half way to the pavilion South Africa's Rudi Koetzern pressed the red button anyway signalling the end of an effort which was man of the match stuff: 74 off 116 balls with 10 fours.

Not at all a bad effort from the Kiwi opener who had overseen the departures of Nathan Astle, Craig McMillan and his captain, Steve Fleming. And through it all he played with a sensible approach: unflustered, unhurried and calculating the runs needed and the run rate which at one stage approached six an over.

Auckland-born and playing for Otago, the tall opener has scored solidly for New Zealand in matches with a century against Zimbabwe in February last year. Now the Zimbabwe bowling may not be considered as impressive at Test level, but it is more than useful.

When he departed it was left to the experienced duo of Twose and Chris Cairns to work through the remaining overs. No doubt, when he went out to bat and looked to see who was to come Cairns decided it would be prudent to carry the fight to the Indian bowlers, especially with the wet ball. When the rain came 58 runs were needed off 58 balls and technically in front of India of under the Duckworth/Lewis system. They had done it against Australia so why not India?

Then Cairns, attempting to alleviate some of the pressure attempted to lift it over long on only to be picked off by Kumble off Venkatesh Prasad. There was some messy fielding by the Indians as well which did not aid their cause at all. Even the crowd support, or what was left of it after the shower, failed to diminish; their exuberance had been evident all day and the colourful umbrellas were part of the parade.

They arrived by car, train and some even hitch-hiked from Birmingham, such was their passion for their side. At one stage earlier in the day even the clouds managed to part, the sun breaking through long enough to lift the imaginary blanket of gloom for the Kiwis, the inhabitants of the land of the 'Long White Cloud' (or could cloud be mistaken for shroud?). When it closed over the venue it was forbidding and murky enough to have the press box lights switched on.