Cricket: Kiwis back from the dead

By Richard Boock

Just when it seemed the Australian cricketers were about to administer the last rites in the one-day series against New Zealand, the corpse leapt out of the coffin and made off with the final game.

Against all expectations after being cleaned out in the previous four one-dayers, New Zealand managed to achieve what Prada could not last night when they avoided the much-talked-about whitewash, and also broke Australia's world record unbeaten sequence.

Desperate to make some sort of impression on the Neighbours before the first test next week, New Zealand blasted Steve Waugh's much-altered combination out for 191 at Eden Park, before claiming a morale-boosting win with seven wickets and nine overs to spare.

It was the first defeat inflicted on Australia since Pakistan beat them at the Gabba on January 9, and came after New Zealand, who carried an unaltered line-up into the match, found their bowlers on song, and a new hero in the batting line-up.

Charged with opening the innings after the previous calamities during this series, new wicketkeeper Chris Nevin made his second ODI something to remember when he crashed 74 off 94 balls as New Zealand made a flying start to the run-chase.

The smallest man ever to wear the gloves in an ODI for New Zealand became a big problem for Australia as the innings wore on, making the most of his chances before the fielding restrictions were lifted and pacing himself through the middle stages.

Apart from a lighting fault which held the game up for 17 minutes late in the piece, New Zealand had to negotiate some early problems after losing Nathan Astle at 28 and Mathew Sinclair at 66, but Nevin found an able partner in Stephen Fleming, and together the pair added 100 off 138 balls for the third wicket.

Fleming, having already excelled at No 3, where he had effectively been opening in the past seven ODIs, was just as solid at No 4 last night, raising his 21st ODI 50 off 77 balls, and ending unbeaten on 60, for a series average of 47.5.

Australia might only blame themselves for the loss after making some baffling changes to their batting order, but makeshift opener Damien Martyn, at least, was able to succeed where his team-mates could not, ending unbeaten on 116 when the innings petered out with 3.4 overs remaining.

Only a couple of days after the national selectors rescued his test career, Martyn single-handedly rescued Australia's innings, collecting well over half his team's total in a hard-working effort, which left him unbeaten for the fifth time in five games.

As a procession of partners departed at the other end, the 28-year-old Western Australian stood tall through scrum after scrum of Kiwi high-fives, bringing up his maiden ODI century off 118 balls, after labouring in the 90s for six overs.

He became just the fifth player to carry his bat in an ODI, emulating the deeds of Zimbabwe's Gary Flower (1994), Pakistan's Saeed Anwar (1995), England's Nick Knight (1996) and the West Indies' Ridley Jacobs (1999).

Having won the toss and elected to bat, Australia opted to make some radical changes to their batting order, opening up with Martyn and Matthew Hayden, and pushing usual openers Adam Gilchrist and Mark Waugh down the order.

Whatever the motive, the move was far from successful, with Chris Cairns, who with Paul Wiseman and Daniel Vettori was the pick of the New Zealand bowlers, sending back Hayden and No 3 Steve Waugh before the end of the third over.

Cairns ended with three for 33, boosting his series tally to nine, and also managed to take a fine running catch to snuff out Gilchrist's innings just as the lefthander was looking dangerous.

New Zealand's win ended Australia's record-breaking unbeaten march at 14, and was just the third time Steve Waugh's side had been beaten in the past 30 ODIs.