The road to the ICC World Cup 2011 quarter-finals: New Zealand – Part 2
With the target set, the opening pair of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Kenya-c752 match, as they reached 166 runs in 33.3 overs. Guptill made 86 runs and McCullum helped himself to an impressive 76 as New Zealand earned their
second win of the competition by 10 wickets.
With two wins and a loss in the group stage so far, the New Zealand side took on http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755, who were on an impressive winning run themselves. The match would have mixed results for the Kiwi’s as Daniel Vettori aggravated an injury that ruled him out for the
remainder of the group stages.
On the other hand, stand-in Captain Ross http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Kamran-Akmal-c70122 dropped him twice early on. Taylor made full use of the gift given to him by Akmal, as his innings singlehandedly took the match out of Pakistan’s
hands, as the kiwis amassed a more than respectable total of 302 runs in their allotted 50-overs.
The batting performance was supported by an equally strong bowling performance. Pakistan collapsed to a final score of 192 runs with Southee taking another three wickets. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 had crushed Pakistan by a 110 runs, as they took their group points tally
to 6.
Knowing that a win would be enough to secure a place in the quarter-finals, the Kiwi’s went into their fifth game of the group stages against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Canada-c748 with everything to play for. Brendon McCullum again showcased his prowess with the bat, scoring 101 runs
in a knock that included 12 fours, as the Kiwi’s looked to set a big total in the first innings.
Taylor continued with his devastating form, as he scored a blistering 74 runs off just 60 balls, as New Zealand set a formidable total of 358 runs for the loss of 6 wickets. The job now fell to the bowlers to secure their berth in the knock-out stage, as
the Canadian openers took to the field.
The bowling attack was not as sharp as they were in previous matches and were unable to bowl the Canadians out and managed to reach a respectable score of 261 runs. Jacob Oram took three wickets, as the Kiwis were through to the quarter-finals of the competition
with a 97 run victory in their penultimate group stage match.
With qualification secure, the Kiwis met http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mumbai-c820 with nothing but a higher group position on the line. Bowling first, the New Zealand side struggled to cope with the Sri Lankan battling line-up with the host nations managing
to reach 265 runs after playing out the 50-overs. Southee seemed to have an obsession with the number three, as that was exactly how many wickets he took in the match…again!
He would however have hoped for a better batting performance from his side, as they collapsed to an unimpressive score of 153 runs in 35-overs. This meant that they would face the winners of Group B in the quarter-finals, which turned out to be the very
consistent South African side.
New Zealand will need to replicate their best performances with both bat and ball, as they aim to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup, something that they have more than a little experience in.
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