New Zealand came through their opening World Cup warm-up match at Benoni’s Willowmoore Park Tuesday ”pretty happy altogether” with their performance after scoring a 78-run win over South African four-day champions Easterns.
Kiwi captain Stephen Fleming said he had been very pleased with the bowling and fielding by his side, and reasonably content with the batting on a ”very difficult wicket” with inconsistent bounce.
Batting had never been easy, he said, and the team had felt they had done well when they reached 208 for seven.
Then his bowlers, spearheaded by Jacob Oram who finished with five for 35, dominated the local batsmen and only a brave unbeaten 51 by captain Derek Crookes enabled Easterns to reach 130.
Oram found strong support from fellow pacemen Shane Bond and Daryl Tuffey.
Crookes said the poor batting which had seen his side slump in 50-over games this season had continued, while the New Zealand bowling attack had been very strong.
He had hoped to have the Kiwis in trouble in the morning when he sent them in because of the moisture in the wicket, but there had been some loose bowling and several expensive missed chances.
New Zealand, sent in to bat after losing the toss, posted a comparatively modest 208 for seven in their 50 overs without ever really getting on top of the Easterns attack.
Chris Harris compiled a workmanlike unbeaten 51 off 75 balls with four boundaries, while Nathan Astle hit an entertaining 42 off 97 balls with five fours and a straight six and Scott Styris a polished 40 off 82 balls with only two boundaries.
Albie Morkel and Zander de Bruyn got two wickets each, while there was one apiece for Andre Nel, Brenden Reddy and Pierre de Bruyn.
The Easterns bowlers gave away 25 extras, including 15 wides. Nel and Morkel conceded six apiece with the latter having a nightmare marathon opening over with four wides.
The home side’s batting was dismal as wickets tumbled at regular intervals and six wickets were down for 66. Crookes gave the innings some respectability but found little support. – Sapa
More cricket in our Cricket World Cup special report.