INDOOR CRICKET WORLD

With the sound of the crowd's reaction to New Zealand beating the Australian Men on Friday still echoing around the Wellington Indoor Sports centre, these two great teams meet once again--this time for the ultimate prize in world indoor cricket.

New Zealand made two changes from Friday night's historic team, bringing in Mark Calkin and Iain O'Brien to replace Robbie Bird and Brendon Donkers. In such a strong team it was inevitable that good players were going to sit out the Grand Final. Brendon and Robbie could still consider themselves unlucky, both putting in good efforts in the win over Australia: they batted together and put on a partnership of 20 (the second highest for New Zealand in that game), and had totals of 5 and 11 respectively from their two overs. And Guy Coleman must also have come under strong consideration, having scored 6 with the bat and a team-best -5 with the ball in the first game against Australia. But selection is an agonisingly rocky road at the best of times, and with an array of quality players to choose from it becomes a nightmare.

The Australian selectors didn't have an easy task either. I know there was much consternation over the team for the Grand Final, with many different configurations considered in a frantic effort to come up with the final line-up. In the end, the Australians made two changes to Friday night's team: Craig Slocombe and Sean Hollins were replaced by Justin Nelson and Bobby Gray.

New Zealand batted first, and as they have done throughout the tournament opened with Rob and Mark Orchard. And what an opening it was. 8 runs from each of the first two overs (bowled by Steve Butler and Scott Johnson), including surviving 2 third-ball situations. Another survived third-ball in the third over (bowled by Justin Nelson) before the first and only wicket this pair lost, a runout. Following a solid 10 runs from Aaron Mills' over, the Orchard brothers walked off the court with an excellent partnership of 28 (Robbie 13 runs, Mark 15).

The second pair of Marc Calkin and Graham Murray were in trouble early, losing a wicket (runout) on their third ball. A no-ball helped negotiate another third-ball situation, and 2 runs were scrambled from the over (bowled by Corey Otto).
Brent Raverty bowled the next over, and he too had the batsmen on third-ball immediately. But again, a no-ball wasted the opportunity for the Australians, much to the delight of the crowd. Two balls later, Marc was out caught: 2 runs from this over also. After 6 overs, and the score at 32, the New Zealanders had begun to let their great start slip a bit. However, no more wickets fell for this pair, and they added 11 runs from Bobby Gray's over and finished with a solid 9 from Jay Otto's. A partnership of 24, for a team total at the half-way mark of 52. New Zealand were well on their way to posting a very competitive score.

Iain O'Brien and Leigh Kelly were New Zealand's third pair. Cory Otto bowled the first over to them, and immediately the Australian speedster had the batsmen on third-ball. That was successfully negotiated by O'Brien. The first ball Kelly faced was a quick bouncer, called no-ball. Two balls later he was out caught, and the last 2 balls were not scored from, setting up a third-ball for the next over. Minus 1 from the over, which gave Corey Otto figures of 1 run total from his two overs, equal team-best with Brent Raverty. Aaron Mills bowled next, and the second ball of the over was cracked by O'Brien for 7, the first and only one for the match. The over cost 14 runs.

New Zealand were now 65 after 10 overs, easily on target for a score of over 100.

The next over was pivotal. Brent Raverty gave up a single from the first ball, then set up a third-ball wicket. The last 4 balls of the over cost 4 runs, for an over total of -1.
Scott Johnson bowled the 12th over, and had O'Brian caught from the second ball. Seven runs off the last 6 balls saw the batsmen take 2 runs from the over. The last 2 overs of the partnership had cost the Australians a total of only 1 run, and the partnership realised 13 runs. After 12 overs the New Zealand total was 66.

Although the New Zealand position was less solid than it had been at the half-way mark, a score of between 80 and 90 was still well within reach. Corey Todd, who came in to bat last with Gareth Irwin, had plundered 27 runs off his own bat when New Zealand beat Australia, including three 5's and a 7. Corey and Gareth had taken 21 runs from a Steve Butler over in that game, and Steve still had to bowl an over to them in this game too.

But if the New Zealand crowd were hoping for some similarity to that first encounter between Corey Todd and the Australians, they were to be disappointed. The Australians had obviously learned something about Corey--mainly bowling just short of a length, at or around the hip, they deprived the hard-hitting New Zealander of anything to drive, and thereby severely restricted his scoring. And when they did pitch the ball up, it was at or outside leg-stump, or swinging into the legs, again making any big shots to the back net almost impossible.
Bobby Gray bowled first up, and immediately had Irwin on third-ball. It was survived, but two balls later they faced another. This time Aaron Mills effected a brilliant runout at the 'keeper's end, stopping a very firmly hit ball, deflecting it up and then palming it to the 'keeper. Another runout on the last ball, and the over cost -6, with only two balls scored from.
Steve Butler bowled next. Corey had hit Steve for a 5 and a 7 in one over in the previous game, but this over was totally different. Although two wides helped the batsmen, a runout off the last ball (with the batsmen on third-ball) swung it back to the fielders: only 3 off the over. After 14 overs New Zealand were 63.
Justin Nelson bowled the 15th. A successful third-ball, and only 1 run from the over.
Jay Otto finished off the innings, bowling Corey on third-ball. A further wicket (runout) saw -6 off the over, and the partnership realised a disappointing -6.

New Zealand had scored 58. Considering they were 52 after 8 overs, Australia had staged a remarkable fightback in the field.

But they still had to do it with the bat, and their previous 26 run effort against New Zealand must have tickled away at the confidence before their innings. A good start was essential for the Australians, to keep any tiny doubt at bay, whereas the New Zealanders would have been keen to get some pressure on immediately to feed the doubt.

Justin Nelson and Brent Raverty opened for Australia. Iain O'Brien opened the bowling with a big wide, then followed it up with a caught-and-bowled. And just in case any of the Australian bench missed the wicket, Iain kindly reminded them by hurling the ball at the net immediately in front of them in celebration. If New Zealand were going to win this one, they were going to have to bowl and field with a sustained and very high level of intensity for 16 overs--O'Brien was doing his best to make sure that intensity was there from the start. 3 off the over, a good start for New Zealand.
Mark Orchard bowled next, and did have the batsmen on third-ball. They successfully played that, and took a steady 7 from the over.
Marc Calkin bowled the third over. The batsmen played this over well, scoring two 4's and failing to score on only one ball. 18 off the over, and suddenly Australia was nearly half way to its target with 13 overs left. The partnership was beginning to gather momentum, and New Zealand had to interrupt that before it got out of hand.
Gareth Inman did just that. Bowling the 4th over, he gathered a runout and bowled five balls that were not scored from, for -1 off the over. A partnership of 27: a good start (just 1 short of New Zealand's opening).

There had been a couple of confident runout appeals that had gone against New Zealand up to this stage, but on only one of them could the New Zealanders rightfully feel hard done by. But cricket, as you may have heard, is a funny game, and a particular decision against the next pair helped restore a bit of balance.

Aaron Mills and Steve Butler batted second for Australia.
The first over they faced came from Graham Murray. A couple of wides early helped the batsmen, but then Mills was given out bowled from a slower Murray delivery. Mills looked confused at the decision (not that a confused or disagreeing batsman is any indication of what really happened), and so were some of the sharper-eyed spectators looking down the pitch. Mills got an inside/bottom edge to a ball pitched clearly outside off-stump, and the ball deviated straight down, not sideways, appearing to miss the stumps by about nine inches. But the off-stump went careening to leg, and James Windscheffel had no hesitation giving the batsman out bowled. Like I said, cricket is a funny game.

To add to the interest in this partnership, large sections of the crowd loudly informed Mills that they thought he was a has-been, and worked in the Banking sector (or something like that, I couldn't hear them too clearly). It didn't make a visible impression on Mills, although when he finished batting there was a bit of friendly banter between himself and those same sections of the crowd.

Leigh Kelly bowled next, conceding 8 runs. The last two balls were not scored from, thereby setting up third-ball for the first ball of the next over. The batsmen successfully negotiated the third-ball, but suffered a runout the next ball. They were on third-ball again, and again avoided the wicket, but it was a fine over from Corey Todd, costing only 1 run. The Australians were now only 18 runs behind New Zealand's total, and still had 9 overs to bat.
Mark Orchard bowled the 8th over. Although setting up a third-ball (unsuccessful), the over still cost 8 runs, and Australia were 48 at the halfway mark. Though this was 4 runs behind New Zealand's halfway score, it was only 10 behind New Zealand's total, and the home side was in trouble. They simply had to make serious inroads into the next batting pair, otherwise the last pair were going to come in with their side well in front and the pressure all but removed.

Bobbie Gray and Cory Otto were the third pair, and they set about consolidating the previous pairs' solid start. 9 off Inman's over put them just one run short of New Zealand's score. They equalled that score on the first ball of the 10th over (bowled by Iain O'Brien). Even O'Brien's innovative ploy (unsuccessful, and earning a very mild rebuke from the umpire) of bowling to the batsman while he's still marking his guard wasn't enough to put the brakes on the Australians, and they took 7 from the over.
A further 9 runs from the 11th over (Kelly), and Australia had built a 15 run lead. Gray was bowled by Robbie Orchard on the first ball of the 12th over, but the pair still managed 3 from the over. A team-high partnership of 28, for a team total of 76 runs after 12 overs.

Jay Otto and Scott Johnson were Australia's final pair. To have any chance of pulling of a remarkable come-back win, New Zealand had to get into this pair early.
Johnson was bowled by Murray second last ball of the 13th, but 3 runs still came from the over, and the lead grew to 21.
Corey Todd came on next, restricting the batsmen to mainly singles. A runout ensured there were no runs scored from the over, but it was now obvious Australia had this one in the bag.
Marc Calkin sent down the 15th over for 8 runs, then Robbie Orchard bowled the last. Otto went for a bit of a hit (with a cushion of 29 runs the pressure was well and truly off), hitting a 4 and 5. New Zealand equalled that with two catches, for an over score of 10 runs. A final partnership of 21, and a final team total of 97.

Australia Men had retained the Indoor Cricket World Cup.

New Zealand lost 12 wickets, Australia 8.
New Zealand faced 13 third-ball situations, losing a wicket on 6 of them.
Australia faced 7 third-ball situations, losing a wicket on none of them.
The best overs came from Jay Otto and Bobby Gray (both had a -6 over)
The most expensive over came from Marc Calkin (18 runs), followed by Aaron Mills (14 runs)
Best partnerships were from Rob and Mark Orchard (NZ) and Robbie Gray and Cory Otto (Aus), both contributing 28 runs.
Photos of this match and the Women's Grand Final will be posted this weekend ( 12/13 October)

INDOOR CRICKET WORLD

Indoor Cricket

World Cup 2002

Indoor Cricket

World Cup 2002