Cricket: Kiwis to sidestep Aussie nemesis

There was good and bad news for the New Zealand one-day side after yesterday's announcement of the 2006 Champions Trophy groupings.

On the bright side, the 2000 champions will not, for a change, be pitted against No 1 seeds Australia in the first round, as they have been during their brief campaigns in Sri Lanka (2002) and England (2004).

On the other hand, this year's showdown in India will not come without its difficulties for the New Zealanders, who will instead square off against South Africa and Pakistan, and one other side, probably the West Indies or Sri Lanka.

Australia, having destroyed New Zealand in their past two tournaments, will this time be placed in Group A alongside India and England, and will almost certainly start as favourites.

The winner of a qualifying round comprising the West Indies, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh will join the three Group A teams, and the runner-up will be added to Group B.

The seedings were dictated by the ODI rankings table as at April 1, the new tournament format including a round-robin contest in both groups, after which the top two ranked sides will each qualify for the semifinals.

Including 22 matches in 21 days, the competition is scheduled to begin on October 7 with the qualifying matches, and will end on November 5 with the final.

New Zealand have a chequered history in the tournament, having been eliminated at the first round stage in all but one of the four tournaments staged so far, in Dhaka, Nairobi, Colombo and England.

They were lucky to make it past the qualifying stage during their first appearance in 1998, struggling to a first-up win over Zimbabwe only after Chris Harris struck a boundary off the final ball.

It was even worse in 2002 when they copped Australia at their best in their opening game at Colombo, sliding to a staggering 164-run loss after being bowled out for just 132.

New Zealand fared little better in their most recent campaign in England, again drawing Australia in the early stanzas and again finding themselves making a premature exit, this time after losing by seven wickets.

Despite the setbacks, New Zealand can always reflect with satisfaction on their history making effort in Kenya six years ago, when they won their first international tournament title after knocking over India in the final.