Ricky Ponting scored his 24th one-day hundred and Adam Gilchrist clubbed a ferocious half-century to steer Australia to a convincing seven-wicket win over New Zealand in the opening Chappell Hadlee Trophy game yesterday.
Skipper Ponting cruised to an unbeaten 107 off 108 balls with 13 boundaries to glide Australia home to victory with 45 balls to spare after opening batsman Gilchrist had crashed six fours and two sixes in his 51 off just 29 balls.
The Australians always were in command despite a rain delay and polished off the runs with ease to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series with the next match in Sydney tomorrow.
Set 255 to win, Australia reached the target for the loss of just three wickets in the 43rd over.
Receiving a stroke of good fortune on 38 when he snicked Chris Martin behind only to be reprieved by umpire Mark Benson's call of no-ball, Gilchrist played with uninhibited freedom to virtually decide the contest.
Gilchrist's exit, skying Martin to cover, left Australia requiring a mere four runs per over.
Ponting, Michael Clarke (48) and Andrew Symonds (28 not out) made light of the run chase despite a 48-minute rain delay.
Brendon McCullum fell four runs short of his maiden one-day century as New Zealand totalled 254 for seven off 50 overs.
The belligerent wicketkeeper-batsman, opening the innings, crashed 12 boundaries and a six off 103 balls before he holed out to Nathan Bracken in the deep off wrist-spinner Brad Hogg for 96 with a first one-day century beckoning.
The Black Caps, who won the last Chappell Hadlee series 3-0 at home last February, started well but tailed off late in the innings to set the Australians just over five runs an over for victory at the Adelaide Oval.
The Australians restricted them to 59 runs from the final 10 overs.
No.5 batsman Ross Taylor (50) also made his presence felt off 52 balls with three sixes before he found a leading edge off Brett Lee and was well caught by Tait at deep mid-off.
Clean hitter Jacob Oram (32 not out) rounded off proceedings with his customary power off 38 balls clubbing three boundaries.
McCullum's knock was the highlight of New Zealand's innings, cracking boundaries to all parts in an innings reminiscent of his efforts against the Australians at home in February.
He took a particularly heavy toll on Tait, exploiting the young paceman's broad variation in line and length.
Chastened by a first spell that cost 28 in three overs, Tait proved a greater threat in his second, claiming the outside edges of How (20 from 59 balls) and then Scott Styris (5) with deliveries that left them.
Robinson Cano spent 17 seasons playing in the MLB in front of all kinds of baseball fans, but he said there is something special about his stint with the Mexican Baseball League’s Diablos Rojos. He is not alone. The league last week opened its 100th season, aiming to keep an impressive growth in attendance that began after the national team’s surprise run at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, and is already surpassing some first-division soccer clubs. After finishing third in the 2023 tournament, many casual fans, some of them soccer enthusiasts disappointed after Mexico were eliminated in the first round in the 2022
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
In-form teenager Mirra Andreeva on Thursday crashed out of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany, after going down in straight sets to fellow Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova in the last 16. World No. 7 Andreeva, who already has two titles under her belt this season, lost 6-3, 6-2 against the 22nd-ranked Alexandrova in just over an hour. The 17-year-old Andreeva had defeated her elder sister Erika in the previous round on Wednesday, but Alexandrova quickly took control as she claimed her fourth win over a top-10 player this season. The 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva in February became the youngest winner of a WTA
RSS