Absolute CARNAGE at Eden Park!
Everyone was waiting for the Australia vs New Zealand match with bated breath. The two host nations and the two favourites to win the World Cup were expected to put on a breathtaking show.
Scores above 300 have become the norm in this World Cup. With the firepower in the Australian and New Zealand batting line ups, coupled with the extremely small boundaries of Eden Park, 300 was expected to be easily reached. Moreover, finally there was a game where people expected the side chasing the total to give a fight unlike the way it has been in previous games.
But, what happened out there was not what anyone expected.
The way Finch and Warner started the attack on New Zealand's opening bowlers, it seemed like 400 was on the cards! Warner and Watson continued in the same manner once Finch departed to a brute of a delivery from Southee.
But then a key move by Brendon McCullum, who is fast becoming the best captain in the game, in the 5th over of the innings, changed everything.
With Australia cruising at 51-1 after 6 overs, McCullum handed the ball to his most experienced campaigner, Daniel Vettori.
It was a huge gamble to give a spinner a go inside the powerplay.
Vettori, however, like the champion he is, delivered beautifully and put the brakes on and then finally removed Watson in the 13th over, and then Smith in the 17th over. In the middle, Southee removed Warner as well.
From 80-1, Australia has slid down to 96-4 after 17 overs. Some damage had been done, but it was still a decent platform with Clarke and Maxwell at the crease and Marsh and Haddin to follow.
But what followed was absolute carnage!
Boult, after an opening spell of 0-24 in 5 overs, returned for his second spell in the 18th over and in the span of 18 deliveries removed Maxwell, Marsh, Clarke, Johnson, and Starc to leave Australia reeling at 106-9!
18 deliveries. 5 wickets. 1 run.
That was the most devastating spell of fast bowling this World Cup has seen. Even better than Tim Southee's demolition of England.
Forget 300, Australia were struggling to go far beyond a 100.
Australia's last wicket pair of Haddin and Cummins tried their best to repair the damage and managed to take Australia to 151.
The Aussies, the best batting line up of the tournament, one of the favourites to win, had been bowled out inside 33 overs!
New Zealand's chase was expected to be a cakewalk but it was anything but that!
Their innings began much like Australia's, with Guptill smashing 10 runs of the first delivery thanks to a Mitchell Johnson no ball.
The kiwis were off to a flier, and despite losing Guptill early, McCullum kept going the way he knows best smashing Johnson to all parts of the ground! In 4 overs, Johnson has been carted away for 52 runs!
McCullum reached his 50 off only 21 deliveries, but then departed soon after with New Zealand at an absolutely smashing 79-2 in 8 overs.
Starc began the 9th over and removed Ross Tayor and Grant Elliot of the first two deliveries, either side of the break, in what would be the first of two times that he would be on a hatrick in the match.
New Zealand were 79-4 when Anderson joined Williamson in the middle, and both went about their task quite easily, before Maxwell struck to remover Anderson in the 20th over. New Zealand were 131-5 and needed only 21 runs to win, which should have been like a walk in the park.
But then Starc returned to cause havoc once more.
In the space of 5 deliveries, Starc removed Ronchi, Milne, and Southee. Cummins added the scalp of Vettori, and New Zealand found themselves 9 down with 6 runs still needed for victory.
New Zealand's number 11 survived two deliveries, and off the first ball of the next over, Williamson finished the game with a six!
In what was supposed to be a high scoring thriller, the match turned out to be one entertaining roller coaster ride.
The match barely lasted a total of 56 overs, but it was one of the craziest games of cricket I have ever seen.
Never have a I seen the battle of dominance between bat and ball to such an extent as I witnessed in this game.
When the bat dominated, the ball disappeared to all parts of the crowd at Eden Park. When the ball dominated, the stumps lay shattered!
There were 26 boundaries and 11 sixes in the entire match; meaning that 170 off the 303 runs that both teams scored collectively came through fours and sixes.
There were as many as 8 batsmen who got bowled in the match.
If there was ever a match that defined the word CARNAGE, this was it.
What a game!
Scores above 300 have become the norm in this World Cup. With the firepower in the Australian and New Zealand batting line ups, coupled with the extremely small boundaries of Eden Park, 300 was expected to be easily reached. Moreover, finally there was a game where people expected the side chasing the total to give a fight unlike the way it has been in previous games.
But, what happened out there was not what anyone expected.
The way Finch and Warner started the attack on New Zealand's opening bowlers, it seemed like 400 was on the cards! Warner and Watson continued in the same manner once Finch departed to a brute of a delivery from Southee.
But then a key move by Brendon McCullum, who is fast becoming the best captain in the game, in the 5th over of the innings, changed everything.
With Australia cruising at 51-1 after 6 overs, McCullum handed the ball to his most experienced campaigner, Daniel Vettori.
It was a huge gamble to give a spinner a go inside the powerplay.
Vettori, however, like the champion he is, delivered beautifully and put the brakes on and then finally removed Watson in the 13th over, and then Smith in the 17th over. In the middle, Southee removed Warner as well.
From 80-1, Australia has slid down to 96-4 after 17 overs. Some damage had been done, but it was still a decent platform with Clarke and Maxwell at the crease and Marsh and Haddin to follow.
But what followed was absolute carnage!
Boult, after an opening spell of 0-24 in 5 overs, returned for his second spell in the 18th over and in the span of 18 deliveries removed Maxwell, Marsh, Clarke, Johnson, and Starc to leave Australia reeling at 106-9!
18 deliveries. 5 wickets. 1 run.
No one could have seen that coming. I wonder what the betters went through. Betbind.com are a site where you to keep track of your betting history. For anyone who bets often, record-keeping is imperative. Without accurate tracking of wins and losses, it is impossible to understand what works and what doesn’t.
That was the most devastating spell of fast bowling this World Cup has seen. Even better than Tim Southee's demolition of England.
Forget 300, Australia were struggling to go far beyond a 100.
Australia's last wicket pair of Haddin and Cummins tried their best to repair the damage and managed to take Australia to 151.
The Aussies, the best batting line up of the tournament, one of the favourites to win, had been bowled out inside 33 overs!
New Zealand's chase was expected to be a cakewalk but it was anything but that!
Their innings began much like Australia's, with Guptill smashing 10 runs of the first delivery thanks to a Mitchell Johnson no ball.
The kiwis were off to a flier, and despite losing Guptill early, McCullum kept going the way he knows best smashing Johnson to all parts of the ground! In 4 overs, Johnson has been carted away for 52 runs!
McCullum reached his 50 off only 21 deliveries, but then departed soon after with New Zealand at an absolutely smashing 79-2 in 8 overs.
Starc began the 9th over and removed Ross Tayor and Grant Elliot of the first two deliveries, either side of the break, in what would be the first of two times that he would be on a hatrick in the match.
New Zealand were 79-4 when Anderson joined Williamson in the middle, and both went about their task quite easily, before Maxwell struck to remover Anderson in the 20th over. New Zealand were 131-5 and needed only 21 runs to win, which should have been like a walk in the park.
But then Starc returned to cause havoc once more.
In the space of 5 deliveries, Starc removed Ronchi, Milne, and Southee. Cummins added the scalp of Vettori, and New Zealand found themselves 9 down with 6 runs still needed for victory.
New Zealand's number 11 survived two deliveries, and off the first ball of the next over, Williamson finished the game with a six!
In what was supposed to be a high scoring thriller, the match turned out to be one entertaining roller coaster ride.
The match barely lasted a total of 56 overs, but it was one of the craziest games of cricket I have ever seen.
Never have a I seen the battle of dominance between bat and ball to such an extent as I witnessed in this game.
When the bat dominated, the ball disappeared to all parts of the crowd at Eden Park. When the ball dominated, the stumps lay shattered!
There were 26 boundaries and 11 sixes in the entire match; meaning that 170 off the 303 runs that both teams scored collectively came through fours and sixes.
There were as many as 8 batsmen who got bowled in the match.
If there was ever a match that defined the word CARNAGE, this was it.
What a game!
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