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Nothing can seemingly stop the Australian juggernaut. They rested three of their best players (Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist and Brad Williams), posted a low total and yet managed to win the seventh match in the tri-series against New Zealand by 44 runs at Guwahati rather comfortably.
Every time the Aussies are in trouble, one of their players rises to the occasion and guides them to victory. Chasing 226 for victory, the Kiwis did not get off to a very good start on a pitch that was affording some assistance to both the fast bowlers and the spinners.
Australia innings
New Zealand finally got the chance to field first after Stephen Fleming won the toss. Fleming had earlier complained that the early morning starts put the side batting first as a significant disadvantage.
The pitch had some live grass and a few cracks, and the 8.30 am start ensured that the seam bowlers got some assistance with the new ball.
Australia made three changes to the team which played in Pune. Jimmy Maher and Michael Kasprowicz got their first games of the tournament, while Brad Hogg was back in the side as well. Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden and Brad Williams got a well-deserved rest.
New Zealand persisted with the same team that beat India at Cuttack.
The Aussies were off to a quick start with the non-regular opening pair of Jimmy Maher and Ian Harvey going for their shots right from the word go.
Daryl Tuffey and Kyle Mills had a tough time maintaining a consistent line and length in the first few overs and were punished mercilessly by Ian Harvey.
Harvey smashed a quickfire 25 off just 19 balls to get Australia off to a flying start. He manufactured strokes and made the most of the bad bowling. Australia had scored 33 in the first 27 balls. But then the situation changed dramatically in the space of six balls.
Tuffey tasted success with his next two deliveries. Harvey attempted another lofted shot on the off side and only managed to hit it as far a catch to Chris Nevin at extra cover. The batsmen had crossed, and next ball, Maher was trapped plumb in front by one that pitched in line with leg and would have taken middle. Australia were reduced to 33 for two.
In the next over, Mills struck another blow for the Kiwis. Damien Martyn nicked a wide ball to wicket-keeper Brendon McCullum. Australia were struggling at 34 for three.
But the Aussies continued undaunted. Ricky Ponting and Andrew Symonds continued to attack with rare abandon. It came off for a while, Symonds struck four fours in his 18 before he chased one wide and nicked the ball to the wicketkeeper.
Ponting, at the other end, was not very convincing either. He was playing and missing and a lot, but when he did connect it usually fetched him a four.
The Australian skipper put on a 59-run partnership with Michael Bevan to get the Aussies back into the match. Both batsmen were helped by the lack of control by New Zealand's seamers. Despite the Kiwi bowlers getting a lot of assistance from the pitch and the conditions, the Australians still managed to score at five an over in the first 15 overs.
Daniel Vettori's introduction into the attack coincided with the slowing in the run-rate. The left-arm spinner bowled with a lot of guile and beat the bat on plenty of occasions. He nearly nailed Ponting too, when Chris Harris got his fingertips to a lofted on-drive but couldn't quite latch on. The Australian skipper was on 42. Scott Styris was proving to be a perfect foil for Vettori.
The lack of runs forced Ponting to try something different and that proved to be his downfall. He stepped out to Vettori in a bid to hit him for the maximum possible but holed out to Craig McMillan at long-off. Ponting made 52 off 84 balls including six boundaries and it was Vettori's 100th ODI wicket.
The Australians' aggressive approach cost them another wicket, as Michael Clarke perished in much the same way as Ponting. Advancing down the pitch to Vettori, Clarke (2) failed to get to the pitch of the ball and hit it straight to McMillan.
Vettori was superb and in his ten over spell conceded only 20 runs and claimed two wickets.
Michael Bevan was fast running out of partners. But he never seemed flustered. Brad Hogg (9 off 30 balls) failed to get off the starting blocks and was eventually dismissed by Chris Harris.
In Andy Bichel, Bevan found the perfect partner and the duo put on 61 in the last eight overs to guide Australia to 225 for 7 and give their team a fighting chance. Bevan was unbeaten on 84 off 97 balls while Bichel was unbeaten on 15 off 18 balls.
New Zealand innings
Kiwi skipper Stephen Fleming survived a testing first over from the most successful bowler of the tournament, Nathan Bracken. Off just the third ball of the match, a faint nick to the keeper was not noticed by both, the Australians and the umpire. One ball later, an inside edge went past off stump and down to the fine-leg boundary.
Chris Nevin wasn't so lucky though, edging a full-length ball from Bracken to Ricky Ponting at second slip, and was finally given out after television replays confirmed that the edge had not gone off the ground. New Zealand were reduced to seven for the loss of one wicket.
Bracken constantly troubled both batsmen with his swing and seam and was a notch above Michael Kasprowicz, who played his first match of the tournament.
Lou Vincent was in next and tried to fight his way out of the run of low scores he has had in this one-day tournament. But he did not last too long. He managed to get 12 and hit one amazing straight drive on the up off Bracken before the left-arm pacer got his revenge. Vincent shaped to play to leg and got a leading edge to gully.
Fleming showed glimpses of his class. He took on Bracken for a while, punching him through cover-point and then on-driving him for consecutive fours. His partnership with Scott Styris was looking increasingly dangerous, when Ian Harvey produced the breakthrough with a well-disguised slower ball to dismiss Fleming. The Kiwi skipper made 29.
New Zealand lost Craig McMillan soon thereafter. He was given out caught behind down the leg side for 0. Replays later revealed that the ball had only clipped his trouser. New Zealand were 68 for 4.
Jacob Oram got off the mark with a sweetly timed cover-drive, but a promising innings was cut short by Brad Hogg, bowling his first over, who fired in a flipper to trap Oram right in front of his stumps.
Styris and Chris Harris then added 55 for the sixth wicket, taking quick one's and twos, before Hogg struck again, when Styris chipped a flick straight to Ricky Ponting at midwicket (143 for 6).
The asking rate was climbing steadily now and the Kiwis needed to score at more than seven runs an over.
The lower order, which has been New Zealand's strength in this series, failed this time. New Zealand just managed to cross the 180 runs they needed to earn the bonus point.
