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Australia won by 96 runs  
25.1 Hogg to Harris, no run, well flighted outside off stump, tucks it
around the corner just behind square, looking for a quick run but
sharp fielding prevents it
25.2 Hogg to Harris, no run, flighted up nicely outside off stump,

stretches well forward, defending down in close on the off side
25.3 Hogg to Harris, no run, well flighted up outside off stump, lunges
well forward, easing it towards point in defence
25.4 Hogg to Harris, no run, well flighted up outside off stump, turns
sharply in around the front pad as Harris leaves it alone through
to the keeper
25.5 Hogg to Harris, one run, flighted up similarly outside off stump,
Harris gets across to it, purposefully whipping it across the line
towards wide midwicket to work a single
25.6 Hogg to McCullum, one run, flat ball turning in on off stump, whips
it across the line nicely, out towards deep backward square leg to
get off the mark


End of over 26 (2 runs) New Zealand 104/6 (RR: 4.00 RRR: 105/24 = 4.38)

GB Hogg 2-0-6-0 - Duckpond End
BB McCullum 1* (2b) CZ Harris 10* (21b)

26.1 Lee to McCullum, no run, digs in a short ball, McCullum shapes to
hook before bailing out and ducking well out of the way, heading
down the leg side through to the keeper
26.2 Lee to McCullum, no run, oooh! good inswinging delivery, McCullum
comes across the crease, struck on the pad, big appeal for lbw
from Lee but a very early shake of the head from umpire Bucknor,
heading well down the leg side
26.3 Lee to McCullum, no run, shortish lifting ball just outside off
stump, stands tall to force it down into the covers in defence
26.4 Lee to McCullum, no run, good ball! sharp and rising on off stump,

McCullum awkwardly fends it down towards point, tickled up nicely
by that one, loses the bottom hand off the bat
26.5 Lee to McCullum, OUT: gottim! Lee follows up his earlier shout for
a much better delivery, very full, swinging back in, dead
straight, struck on the toe and that's as plumb as plumb can be

New Zealand 104/7, Partnership of 2
BB McCullum lbw b Lee 1 (7b 0x4 0x6)
CZ Harris 10* (21b) B Lee 7.5-1-39-2 (1w)

New Zealand attempting to pull off one of the great embarrassing
losses by a wide margin, from a position of all but certain
victory here, an incredible turnaround at Port Elizabeth
they have a strong tail, but is it good enough to score more than
half the required runs after its top order failed abysmally?
Jacob Oram the new batsman
26.6 Lee to Oram, OUT: the answer to the previous question is looking
like a resounding 'no', first ball Oram gets a corker from around
the wicket, the angle does the trick, straightens on a line of off
stump, Oram plays inside it and the top of off stump is rattled

New Zealand 104/8, Partnership of 0
JDP Oram b Lee 0 (1b 0x4 0x6)


End of over 27 (maiden) New Zealand 104/8 (RR: 3.85 RRR: 105/23 = 4.57)

B Lee 8-2-39-3 (1w) - Park Drive End
CZ Harris 10* (21b)

New Zealand have one foot touching the bottom of the pool of
quicksand, only a very, very, very long stick can pull them out of
it now ... and its name has to be Chris Harris with a little bit

of help from his big-hitting friends at No 10 and 11
Andre Adams the new batsman
27.1 Hogg to Harris, one run, flighted up on off stump, leans forward,
nudging it away into a gap at midwicket for an easy single
27.2 Hogg to Adams, no run, flighted up on leg stump and turns to off
stump, worked off the hip to short fine leg
27.3 Hogg to Adams, no run, flighted up nicely, props well forward,

defending in close on the off side
27.4 Hogg to Adams, no run, well flighted, turning back in to the right
hander on leg stump, drops from the pad just behind square
27.5 Hogg to Adams, no run, again nicely flighted on a challenging

length, watchfully defends from the crease, played back down the
pitch
27.6 Hogg to Adams, no run, goes right back to a similar ball turning to

off stump, getting right in behind it, defending at his feet


End of over 28 (1 run) New Zealand 105/8 (RR: 3.75 RRR: 104/22 = 4.73)

GB Hogg 3-0-7-0 - Duckpond End
CZ Harris 11* (22b) AR Adams 0* (5b)

28.1 Lee to Harris, three runs, the hat-trick ball doesn't quite go to
plan for Lee, good full ball angling in from around the wicket,
but Harris manages to not only ease it out to the cover sweeper,

but get two bonus runs as the throw to the bowler's end is poorly
covered and sneaks
away for some overthrows
28.2 Lee to Adams, OUT: Lee reckons if Bond can do it, he can do it, and
boy can he do it! a 150kph+ inswinging yorker, Adams plays all
over it, about a week too late in getting the bat down, off stump
knocked back out of its foundation

New Zealand 108/9, Partnership of 4
AR Adams b Lee 0 (6b 0x4 0x6)
CZ Harris 14* (23b) B Lee 8.2-2-42-4 (1w)

game, set, match and perhaps championship for Australia? an
emphatic turnaround from disaster, and New Zealand are going to
walk away from Port Elizabeth well and truly humbled, and wonder
what on earth went wrong
one wicket in hand, a mere 101 required for victory, and out comes
the drinks cart, despite the fact Lee has four chances to knock
over his pace-bowling opposite Shane Bond to finish the match off
quick smart

Match State: Drinks

28.3 Lee to Bond, no run, Lee tries to finish it off with another
yorker, but Bond holds out for one ball at least, digging it out
from his toes into the off side
28.4 Lee to Bond, no run, and another, and again Bond keeps it out, dead
straight, dug out back down the pitch to the bowler, both share a
smile as the result is now inevitable and it's all just byplay now
28.5 Lee to Bond, no run, good fullish ball, not quite yorker length,
tailing in towards leg stump, Bond keeps this one out admirably
too, back to the bowler
28.6 Lee to Bond, no run, Lee switches to come around the wicket for the
final ball of the over, Bond tries to counter him, advancing to a
full ball, looking to smite it down the ground but drives it hard
into the turf, straight up to mid off


End of over 29 (3 runs) New Zealand 108/9 (RR: 3.72 RRR: 101/21 = 4.81)

B Lee 9-2-42-4 (1w) - Park Drive End
CZ Harris 14* (23b) SE Bond 0* (4b)

29.1 Hogg to Harris, one run, shorter ball turning away outside off
stump, cut away towards the cover sweeper
29.2 Hogg to Bond, no run, flighted up full on leg stump, tries to sweep
but misses, rebounds high in the air for Gilchrist to take behind
the stumps, hopeful shout for caught behind, but it came straight
up off the boot
29.3 Hogg to Bond, two runs, flat ball turning just down the leg side,
neatly works it away off his hip fairly fine
29.4 Hogg to Bond, no run, very well flighted up full and straight,
comes forward, gets a streaky leading edge away towards backward
point, had little clue about that one
29.5 Hogg to Bond, no run, it's the flipper, quick and flat, but off
line, down the leg side, taken on the pad and drops at his feet
29.6 Hogg to Bond, one run, Bond goes for a big heave but it's a well
pitched ball on off stump, only manages to drag an inside edge
away to midwicket, retains the strike to face the wrath of Lee's
last over


End of over 30 (4 runs) New Zealand 112/9 (RR: 3.73 RRR: 97/20 = 4.85)

GB Hogg 4-0-11-0 - Duckpond End
SE Bond 3* (9b) CZ Harris 15* (24b)

30.1 Lee to Bond, OUT: and it's all over red rover, Lee caps it off in
style, Bond tries to hook a short rising straight ball, miscues it
straight back down the pitch, Lee dives forward and takes a
wonderful catch just above the ground, grabs a five-wicket haul to

New Zealand 112/10, Partnership of 4
SE Bond c & b Lee 3 (10b 0x4 0x6)
CZ Harris 15* (24b) B Lee 9.1-2-42-5 (1w)

finish things off, including a spell of 5-3 off 2.3 overs at the

end, New Zealand losing their last 5 wickets for 10 runs to end up
embarrassing losers by a margin of 96 runs
it is almost unthinkable that a team batting first gets themselves

to 84/7 and ends up winning a match by 96 runs - they would almost
have been happy to reach 96 runs in total themselves! but not
Australia, anything is possible if you believe enough, and
when you don't dismiss Michael Bevan early on, and let him collect

off the slow bowlers, you will end up shooting yourself in the
foot eventually, Bichel proved a master foil, sometimes even

outdoing the master himself, top scoring in the end
New Zealand came out with a strange approach, mixing very
aggressive intent with laconic periods, and whilst that approach
may have worked against lesser bowling attacks, it was unlikely to
succeed today
the use of Vettori at the top of the order was a strange change
from what had worked quite successfully with McMillan in his
place, even though he still hasn't really shown any sort of
sparkling form this tournament except against Bangladesh
this exposed Astle very early in the piece, exactly what New
Zealand had been trying to avoid in recent times by placing him at
No 3, and the predictable occurred, two down for not many
this fuelled Australia's ever-growing belief that they could win
this match, and after a few handy but unsubstantional
partnerships, on came Australia's own wrecking ball to emulate
Bond's efforts from earlier today
it was a masterly move by Ponting, particularly given how Lee had
been taken to in his opening spell, he snared the pivotal wicket
of Fleming with a rather poor delivery, but that's what happens
when you've got your tail up, you make your own luck
from there it was just a procession, with the quick man taking a
leaf out of Shoaib Akhtar's book by bowling yorkers angling in
from around the wicket at the Kiwi left-handers, knocking over
Oram's off pole first ball, and showed he could york a couple
of right-handers to boot, finishing with 5-42 from 9.1 overs, New
Zealand bowled out with an amazing 19.5 overs left to bat, and
they only required 4.89 an over from there to win - but they
needed 20 wickets at their disposal today
emphatic, comprehensive, clinical ... words expected to describe a
New Zealand victory an hour or two ago if they had managed to
polish off the Australian tail, but instead the plaudits go to the

defending champions, who extend their winning streak to 14
and guarantee themselves top qualifying spot for the semi-finals
now, set to face one of Kenya, Sri Lanka or New Zealand at this
very ground in exactly a week's time
Michael Bevan, Andy Bichel and now Brett Lee will be wanting to
roll up this pitch and take it with them everywhere they go now,
special things seem to happen here for them
New Zealand are now faced with an almost certain must-win clash
against India on Friday, unless a couple of upsets occur in other

matches
Shane Bond has been named Man of the Match for his New Zealand-best
performance of 6-23, but it will be a very hollow award for him,
as his team-mates failed to come through with adequate support to
clean up the dregs and win the match
that concludes CricInfo.com's coverage of this rather remarkable
battle at St George's Park in Port Elizabeth, please join us again
tomorrow for Kenya v Zimbabwe at Bloemfontein, starting at 10am
local time (0800 GMT), until then it's goodbye from us!
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