Cricket: Seven-ball burst tears Zimbabwe to pieces

New Zealand left-armer Mike Bates got into the bowling swing yesterday and Zimbabwe's batsmen danced to his tune.

The 18-year-old Aucklander ripped the heart out of the Zimbabwean innings with a spectacular seven-ball burst which produced four wickets in their under-19 World Cup clash in Christchurch.

He dismissed Zimbabwe's top four batsmen, including test century-maker Hamilton Masakadza, to have the visitors reeling at 22 for four.

Zimbabwe were dismissed for a paltry 71 off 36.2 overs and New Zealand scored the winning runs before lunch to take the maximum five points.

After their rained-out match on Saturday against Sri Lanka, New Zealand had to beat Zimbabwe to win their way to the quarter-finals.

Although they sacrificed some wickets, the home side reached their target in 50 minutes and in the 11th over, losing only four wickets.

Bates and fellow opening bowler Richard Sherlock took a few overs to find their rhythm, but once Bates found his line and length, the Zimbabweans could not cope with his late swing.

In Auckland, India scored for 356 five to overwhelm Canada (114) by 242 runs.

The West Indies thrashed Scotland by 301 runs in Dunedin.

The Windies totalled 402 for three, thanks to centuries by Donovan Pago (176) and Lendl Simmons (121 not out), then rolled the Scots for 101.

Nepal gave England a much tougher match than expected in Christchurch. Nepal reached 167 in 49.2 overs, chasing England's 204.

- NZPA