ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 - 20th Match
(Pool A: New Zealand vs Australia at Auckland)
Ice-cool Williamson wins New Zealand a thriller
| Australia | vs | New Zealand |
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| 151/10 (32.2) | 152/9 (23.1) | |
| New Zealand won by 1 wicket | ||
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| Photo © ICC |
This was the match the 2015 World Cup was crying out for, a competitive contest between two major sides, and the co-hosts played out a thriller in front of a packed and partisan Auckland crowd. The game had everything: perfect weather, a full house, a flurry of early boundaries followed by eye-popping collapses, sensational swing bowling, clever spin bowling, and perhaps the calmest batsmen in the world hitting one of the fastest bowlers in the world for a straight six to seal a one-wicket victory for New Zealand. When Kane Williamson hit Pat Cummins back over his head to win the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy, more than 40,000 stomachs unknotted at Eden Park, and even this most staid of cricketers allowed himself a fist-pump to celebrate.
It shouldn't have been that hard. Never in Australia's history had they been dismissed in an ODI by a team using only three bowlers. It nearly happened at Eden Park, where - backed by a relentlessly attacking captain - Daniel Vettori, Trent Boult and Tim Southee had Australia at 128 for 9 in 27 overs before Brendon McCullum turned to a fourth bowler to finish the job. Southee brought aggression - if sometimes uncontrolled - at the top, Vettori provided calm when New Zealand could have unraveled, and Boult smashed through the middle and lower order. Australia were shot out in 32.2 overs and New Zealand were going to bat before the scheduled dinner break once again.
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| Photo © ICC |
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