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March 1, 2015

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NZ, India seal victories

FOUR years in the making, the Cricket World Cup pool match between New Zealand and Australia lived up to all the hype.

Not long before Australia’s final wicket fell after scoring a paltry 151 runs yesterday, Pharrell Williams’ song “Happy” resonated around the ground at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand.

It certainly was that kind of day — at least at that stage — for the home team. Trent Boult took five wickets and Australia lost its last nine wickets for 71 runs, and the crowd was in raptures.

Two hours and two minutes later, New Zealand chased down the Australian total with just one wicket to spare, and not before some anxious moments for the 40,000-plus crowd.

There was no such drama in the other match yesterday when India bowled out the United Arab Emirates for 102 in 31.3 overs in Perth, Western Australia, then easily chased down the target in 18.5 overs to win by nine wickets.

It was the Pool B-leading Indian team’s third consecutive win.

Pool A leader New Zealand, despite losing five late wickets for 15 runs, reached 152-9 in the 24th over to win for the fourth consecutive time in this tournament and all but clinch a place in the quarterfinals.

Boult (5-27) bowled a devastating second spell in which he took five wickets for three runs in 16 balls as Australia crashed from 80-2 in the 13th over to be all out when Brad Haddin (43) was dismissed 19 overs later.

Mitchell Starc took six wickets for Australia before Kane Williamson clubbed a six in an unbeaten innings of 45 to get New Zealand over the line.

Australia captain Michael Clarke made his return to the lineup after nine weeks out following hamstring surgery but was one of the many batting disappointments, scoring just 12 runs. “We backed ourselves all the way in but we fell one wicket short,” Clarke said. “Full credit to the Kiwis, they played outstandingly ... we were not up to the challenge today.”

Offspinner Ravichandran Ashwin returned a career-best 4-25 to set up defending champion India’s win over the second-tier UAE.

India raced to 104-1 in 18.5 overs, with opener Rohit Sharma scoring an unbeaten 57 and sharing a match-winning 75-run partnership with Virat Kohli, who finished 33 not out.




 

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