Photo GalleryKEY POINTS:
The Black Caps thrashed Kenya by 148 runs in a one-sided contest in St Lucia this morning.
New Zealand made easy work of the victory after an early scare when Lou Vincent went for nought, amassing 331-7.
Kenya in reply never threatened the Black Caps, slumping to 36-4 at one point before managing to hold on to the final over when they were bowled out for 183.
The win confirms New Zealand will be in the Super Eights whatever the result in their final pool game against Canada on Friday. They will also take two points through regardless of whether the other group C qualifier is England or Kenya. They complete the round robin on Sunday NZ time.
After being asked to bat New Zealand amassed a ground record, with Ross Taylor topscoring with 85. He was backed up by Craig McMillan (71), Scott Styris (63) and Stephen Fleming (60).
The Kenyan run chase got away to a poor start when Michael Mason, preferred for this match ahead of spinner Jeetan Patel, trapped David Obuya lbw for one.
Three more batsmen quickly followed him, including captain Steve Tikolo, and Kenya looked to have no chance at 36 for four.
Rain delays threatened a resounding New Zealand win, but two periods off the field proved brief.
Ravi Shah struck out well for 71 off 89 balls but Daniel Vettori removed him with a superb caught-and-bowled effort and the rest of the match was a formality, though the Kenyans stretched their innings out to the final over, before Peter Ongondo was caught and bowled by James Franklin, with the score at 183.
A direct hit from Lou Vincent ran out Ouma, while the dismissal of Tanmay Mishra required a joint effort, with Brendon McCullum behind the stumps getting a hand on the ball and flicking it up for an easy catch for slip Fleming.
Collins Obuya was run out after a horrible mix-up and there was no need to trouble the third umpire as the batsman was left utterly stranded and Kenya were 76-5.
Vettori took two for 45 off his 10 overs, while Mason made an impression with two for 28 off eight overs and Franklin took two for 20.
The only low point for New Zealand was that Taylor pulled up lame in the latter stages of his innings. A mild hamstring strain was diagnosed and he will miss the match against Canada.
They will be keen to have him back for their first match in the Super Eights stage -- against the West Indies in Antigua on March 29.
Accelerated
After being asked to bat New Zealand steadily accelerated from the early loss of Vincent -- to the fourth ball of the innings -- to set the East Africans a massive task to win the first official one-dayer between the two nations and delay the Black Caps advancing a step closer to the April 28 final in Barbados.
Taylor, whose 20-game career has been dogged by cramp and dehydration worries, stuttered then sprinted to complete a quick single on 72 before grabbing his right hamstring and summoning treatment.
He was able to continue briefly with a runner before offering a soft return catch to Kenyan captain Tikolo, two balls after he slog-swept his solitary six over mid wicket.
While Taylor was being assessed, his replacement, a typically bullish Craig McMillan, continued an offensive which culminated in a neat 100 runs being plundered off the last 10 overs.
McMillan guaranteed that New Zealand surpassed Pakistan's previous ground record of 303 for six with a series of punishing blows that reaped 71 off just 48 balls.
McMillan, who strode out with New Zealand comfortably placed at 192 for four in the 34th over, mauled a Kenyan attack that had looked difficult to get away, albeit against Canada, in their first-up win last Wednesday.
However, there was no repeat of that tight performance as a procession of Black Caps batsmen ensured boisterous students from 13 locals schools shipped in to boost a sparse crowd had to remain vigilant as balls were regularly dispatched into the stands.
McMillan plundered five sixes to head the big-hitting stakes though Scott Styris (63 off 62 balls) arguably produced the most audacious blow when he struck spinner Jimmy Kamande over the mid-wicket fence one-handed.
While Fleming, Taylor, McMillan and Styris all notched half-centuries, Vincent's troubles at the top of the order continued when he thick-edged a Thomas Odoyo outswinger to Tikolo at second slip, meaning his first run of this campaign will have to wait until New Zealand's final group match against Canada on Friday NZ time.
After the opener was undone by one of the few balls that swung before the pitch flattened out, Fleming and Taylor composed an unflustered 105-run stand which ended disastrously when the skipper called for a single after Taylor paddled Kamande directly to Collins Obuya at short backward square.
His smooth return to wicketkeeper Maurice Ouma had Fleming (60 off 61 balls) well short of his ground and cursing a missed opportunity to post three figures.
Undeterred by the mix-up Taylor continued to keep the scoreboard ticking over, registering his third one-day 50 off 80 balls.
He survived a critical let off on five when Tanmay Mishra grassed a difficult one-handed chance at square leg and ultimately stroked eight boundaries in his 107-ball stay.
Taylor added 87 at a run-a-ball pace with the in-form Styris for the third wicket.
McMillan and Styris then combined for a quickfire 82 before the latter holed out in the deep to spark a mini collapse as Jacob Oram (3) and Brendon McCullum (6) succumbed trying to further up the ante.
LAST 10 OVERS:
OVER 50: Franklin tries a bouncer, which reaches waist height but the batsman has ducked and it hits him in the helmet. Top edge next ball off another short one, Franklin takes the catch. Game over. 183 all out.
OVER 49: Mason returns to the attack. The agony is almost over - one over to go. 183-9.
OVER 48: Franklin back. All resemblance of a contest has gone. 182-9.
OVER 47: Bond isn't easing off, firing in a short one that Varaiya just manages to get out of the way of. Maiden. Required run rate - 50 an over. 181-9.
OVER 46: McMillan finishes with another tidy over. 181-9.
OVER 45: Odoyo pushes a slower ball from Bond over cover for 4. Skies the next ball to Oram for the ninth wicket. 179-9.
OVER 44: A distant drum the only sound of life in a slow-moving game. Three from the over. 175-8.
OVER 43: Powerplay taken, Odoyo smacks Bond for 4. A full length delivery just misses the base of the off stump. 172-8.
OVER 42: McMillan's medium pacers cause little trouble. But on the final ball of the over a brilliant direct hit, under arm from Vincent, runs out Onyango. 167-8.
OVER 41: Bond gets some more bowling practice as the game trundles on towards an inevitable NZ victory. Causes Odoyo all kinds of trouble, but he survives. 165-7.
SCOREBOARD
New Zealand
L Vincent c Tikolo b Odoyo 0
S Fleming run out (C Obuya) 60
R Taylor c and b Tikolo 85
S Styris c Mishra b Onyango 63
C McMillan c Tikolo b Ongondo 71
J Oram b Onyango 3
B McCullum c Varaiya b Ongondo 6
D Vettori not out 14
J Franklin not out 0
Extras (3lb, 21w, 5nb) 29
Total (for 7 wkts, 50 overs) 331
Fall: 0 (Vincent), 105 (Fleming), 192 (Taylor), 274 (Styris), 280 (Oram), 307 (McCullum), 321 (McMillan)
Bowling: T Odoyo 10-0-55-2 (1nb), P Ongondo 10-0-64-2 (3nb), L Onyango (8-0-63-1 (1w), J Kamande 9-0-61-0 (1w), S Tikolo 6-0-45-1 (5nb)
Kenya
M Ouma run out (Vincent) 4
D Obuya lbw Mason 1
R Shah c and b Vettori 71
S Tikolo c Vettori b Mason 7
T Mishra c Fleming b Franklin 2
C Obuya run out (Franklin) 21
T Odoyo c Oram b Bond 42
J Kamande b Vettori 12
L Onyango run out (Vincent) 6
P Ongondo c and b Franklin 4
H Varaiya not out 1
Extras (2lb, 2w, 8nb) 12
Total (all out, 49.2 overs) 183
Fall: 4 (D Obuya), 8 (Ouma), 26 (Tikolo), 29 (Mishra), 76 (C Obuya), 122 (Shah), 149 (Kamande), 167 (Onyango), 179 (Odoyo), 183 (Ongondo)
Bowling: M Mason 9-0-29-2 (1nb, 1w), S Bond 8-2-19-1 (1w), J Franklin 7.2-2-20-2, D Vettori 10-0-45-2 (4nb), C McMillan 10-0-39-0, J Oram 5-0-29-0 (1nb)
Result: New Zealand win by 148 runs
- NZHERALD STAFF, NZPA
