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Plucky Black Caps brush Ireland aside

New Zealand's Jacob Oram plays a shot against Ireland during the Super Eight match at Guyana National Stadium in Georgetown, Guyana, on Monday. PHOTO: AFP

New Zealand woke from a mid-innings slumber to beat Ireland by 129 runs on Monday and jump above Australia in the race for semi-final places at the cricket World Cup.

Bogged down at 118 for four halfway through its 50 overs and 189 for seven with less than eight to go, the Black Caps launched a volley of sixes and fours to make 263-8 in Guyana. They then bowled last-place Ireland out for 134 in 37.4 overs.

"Up until 40 overs we felt we were behind," said New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming, who decided to bat after winning the toss.

"Ireland put pressure on us and we weren't good enough to get partnerships through the middle. Today we were a little bit hesitant or too over aggressive and what it did was create some pressure and anxiety as the batsmen went out and Ireland capitalized on that. It wasn't until the last four or five overs that we stamped some authority on this game," Fleming said.

Although the performance casts doubt on New Zealand's ability to match an Australian team on a run of 18 World Cup victories in a row, the result puts the Kiwis level on eight points with the two-time defending champion at the top of the Super Eights standings and ahead on superior run rate.

Sri Lanka is third on six, South Africa has four and England, West Indies and Bangladesh have two. Ireland is still searching for its first World Cup victory.

The top four after seven rounds of matches advance to the semi-finals, with the final in Barbados on April 28.

"We're getting guys back to full fitness at the right time," said Fleming, who saw two injured squad players fly home and two more pick up injuries. "We've got a heavy run now with three games in six days against three top sides [Sri Lanka, South Africa and Australia], so we've got our work cut out for us. It's been a good run so far."

There was the potential for a New Zealand run feast when Fleming decided to bat first.

But the wicket at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, was far slower than expected and Fleming and most of his batsmen failed to punish some modest Ireland bowling.

With almost half its overs played, New Zealand had lost Fleming, Hamish Marshall, Scott Styris and Craig McMillan. Although opener Peter Fulton made 83, big hitters such as Jacob Oram struggled to 20 off 48 balls with no boundaries.

Eventually Brendon McCullum (47 off 37 balls) and James Franklin (34 not out off 22) hit out and New Zealand scored 74 off the last 7.3 overs to build a total which was totally out of Ireland's reach.

Brothers Kevin and Niall O'Brien lifted the Irish team from 35-3 to 110. But Niall ran his brother out for 49 after sending him back instead of running for a single.

After that, the Ireland batting collapsed with the last six wickets falling for nine runs to the spin of Daniel Vettori, four for 23, and Jeetan Patel, 2-32.

Bangladesh hope their spin king trio can bamboozle England, just like they did South Africa, and boost their bid for a World Cup semi-final place today.

The left-arm trio of seasoned Mohammad Rafique, effective Abdur Razzak and emerging Saqibul Hasan spun Graeme Smith's side to a humiliating 67-run defeat in Guyana on Saturday -- their first ever win over South Africa.

The win was only Bangladesh's fifth over a major Test playing country in 155 matches and they now seek their first over England in eight matches.

"If we beat England we get closer to the semi-finals but for that we have to work really hard," Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar said ahead of the match against struggling England at the new-look Kensington Oval.

"Definitely we need to play consistent as well. We don't want to play one good game and then play three bad games. But the South Africa win has increased the confidence and morale in the team," he said.
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