Cricket: NZ stumble again as Derbyshire cause upset

7.30am - By MARK GEENTY

DERBY, England - New Zealand's losing habit is proving hard to shake as they crashed to a four-wicket defeat to lowly Derbyshire in their cricket tour one-day match despite a slick Stephen Fleming century here today.

After Fleming's 102 saw New Zealand post 258 for seven, Derbyshire took to some ragged bowling before coasting home with eight balls to spare at the sun-drenched County Ground.

A second division county with just two wins from eight one-day matches this season, Derbyshire were anchored by wristy Pakistani Hassan Adnan's unbeaten 113 off 113 balls after he was dropped by Fleming on nought.

While it was low-key match, the result was just what the New Zealand camp didn't need after their 0-3 test series loss and with a week until their tri-series opener against England in Manchester.

"It's a really disappointing loss because we wanted three good games to go into the England game playing well and getting a bit of confidence back after the test series," Fleming said.

"It's gone the other way, it's pretty deflating."

New Zealand have two more warm up matches against Essex on Friday and Northamptonshire on Sunday to get it right.

Without the resting Chris Cairns, the tourists were probably 30 runs short in their innings after losing their way about the time Fleming departed at the 40-over mark.

But the bowling was again a big concern, a rusty Ian Butler being well short of a gallop as he took two for 62 off nine overs, including 25 off his first three, in his first match in two months after an ankle injury.

James Franklin was the standout with some useful overs in the middle, taking two for 38 off nine and looking likely to push for a place in the top team after being recalled for the injured Kyle Mills.

Daryl Tuffey bowled a useful eight-over opening spell of one for 27 to ease the worries over his form, and it could have been a lot better had Fleming held the simple chance at first slip off Adnan with Derbyshire 44 for two.

But Tuffey, Butler, Franklin and Scott Styris couldn't apply the brakes at the end as Derbyshire needed 68 off the last 10 and got there with ease.

Extras were again a worry, with 13 wides and six no balls conceded.

Earlier, Fleming made a flying start, hitting nine of his 13 boundaries in his first 50 and continuing his hot run from the test series where he averaged 67.5 from his last four innings.

He was finally removed in the 41st over to an ambitious reverse sweep after scoring boundaries all around the ground in a dominant display, facing 123 balls.

At the other end there were early jitters, with Nathan Astle looking out of touch and being caught behind for two, then Hamish Marshall unluckily run out for eight after a mix up with Fleming.

Styris carried on from his Trent Bridge revival, when his struck a century in the third test, with 56 off 69 balls as he and Fleming added 117 for the third wicket.

Craig McMillan also got a confidence-boosting 43 off 45 balls after a shaky start, but New Zealand couldn't find the boundary enough in the death overs as they added just 59 off the last 10.

New Zealand

S Fleming lbw b Botha 102

N Astle c Sutton b Welch 2

H Marshall run out 8

S Styris c Welch b Sheikh 56

C McMillan c Walker b Ali 43

J Oram b Botha 3

B McCullum b Ali 17

C Harris not out 2

J Franklin not out 1

Extras (4b, 14lb, 5w, 1nb) 24

Total (for 7 wkts, 50 overs) 258

Fall: 35 (Astle), 59 (Marshall), 176 (Styris), 201 (Fleming), 205 (Oram), 253 (McMillan), 255 (McCullum).

Bowling: G Welch 10-2-39-1 (1nb), K Dean 5-0-22-0, M Ali 10-0-55-2 (4w), M Sheikh 8-0-34-1 (1w), J Moss 9-1-51-0, A Botha 8-0-39-2.

Derbyshire

J Moss b Tuffey 30

N Walker c Franklin b Butler 4

C Bassano c McCullum b Butler 18

H Adnan not out 113

L Sutton c Marshall b Franklin 41

G Welch c Astle b Styris 8

M Sheikh b Franklin 8

A Botha not out 13

Extras (5lb, 13w, 6nb) 24

Total (for 6 wkts, 48.4 overs) 259

Fall: 8 (Walker), 44 (Moss), 90 (Bassano), 190 (Sutton), 212 (Welch), 233 (Sheikh).

Bowling: D Tuffey 9.4-2-43-1 (2nb, 1w), I Butler 9-0-62-2 (1nb, 3w), J Franklin 9-0-38-2 (1nb, 1w), C Harris 8-0-35-0 (1nb, 4w), J Oram 7-0-28-0 (1nb), S Styris 6-0-48-1 (4w).


Result: Derbyshire won by four wickets.

- NZPA