Kane Williamson lofted himself into cricketing folklore at Eden Park after hitting the winning runs against Australia.
Kane Williamson lofted himself into cricketing folklore at Eden Park after hitting the winning runs against Australia.
Kane Williamson lofted himself into cricketing folklore last night.
With New Zealand nine down chasing 152 for victory against Australia, he deposited Pat Cummins over long on with a match-winning six to finish on 45 not out and carry the Black Caps to the top of their Cricket World Cup pool and the Chappell-Hadlee trophy.
"I was looking to hit a boundary, ideally a six, because it was quite tough the way [Mitchell] Starc swung the ball throughout the innings," he explained.
"I tried to keep the total out of my mind and just bat. It doesn't matter how you do it, as long as you do."
The Australians were subtle, too. Captain Michael Clarke made fielding adjustments within earshot of Williamson to pique his interest but it appears no one can get inside the New Zealand No 3's batting mind. It's Fort Knox.
New Zealand are now Cricket World Cup favourites, but only just. That sentence has never been written but suddenly rings true after the pulsating victory.
The theatre wouldn't have been out of place in London's West End as runs and wickets ebbed and flowed across the day.
Starc, he of the devastating in-swingers to right-handers, took six for 28 from nine overs as New Zealand wavered, despite reaching the target with 26.5 overs to spare.
It was a tight, low-scoring contest - nowhere near the lofty score predictions in excess of 300. Led by Trent Boult's maiden five-wicket ODI haul and an unbeaten 52-run fifth-wicket partnership between Williamson and Corey Anderson, New Zealand guaranteed their home quarter-final.
With Australia 48-1 after five overs, the locals had every right to panic.
Captain Brendon McCullum didn't. In another example of his captaincy nous, he backed his bowlers and reaped rewards. The slips were stacked as wickets fell and in-fielders such as Williamson at short cover enjoyed catching practice. Australia were dismissed for 151, their fifth-lowest ODI total against New Zealand and a rare feat against the world No 1s.
McCullum took Tim Southee off after he conceded 32 runs from three overs, brought Daniel Vettori on in the seventh and eight wickets fell for 26 runs, led by Boult's five for 27. His figures, which included a spell of 5-3-3-5, are the fifth-best by a New Zealand bowler against Australia in ODIs. It took until the 28th over for a fourth bowler to be used.
Image 1 of 22: Australian opener Aaron Finch is bowled by Black Cap Tim Southee. Photo / Brett Phibbs
On most other occasions in Auckland, the cacophony would result in a noise control call-out. At Eden Park, no New Zealand fans were complaining about the decibels.
The chant, "you're worse than England" rang out around the cauldron. It ceased later
Boult scythed through Glenn Maxwell (1), Mitchell Marsh (0), Clarke (12), Mitchell Johnson (1) and Starc (0). Part of the scorecard looked like binary code.
Southee bowled Aaron Finch for 14 off seven before Vettori and Boult cramped Australia against the early odds, restricting them to 20 runs from the final five overs of the opening powerplay.
Southee returned refreshed to dismiss David Warner lbw for 34 from 42 balls. Warner was arguably the most important victim. He was the only batsman set until Brad Haddin guided the lower order with 43 off 41.
McCullum set the New Zealand tone early with 50 off 24 balls but suffered bruising to his forearm from a Johnson delivery. There were no concerns last night about the arm being broken.
New Zealand faced adversity through the middle order with the loss of Ross Taylor and Grant Elliott in consecutive balls. Losing five wickets for 15 runs at the end heightened the drama.
And set the stage for Williamson.
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