subject: New Zealand Broken Zimbabwe by Ten Wickets [print this page] New Zealand Broken Zimbabwe by Ten Wickets
New Zealand recorded a 10-wicket victory against Zimbabwe in the World Cup on Friday, promoting their opportunities of making it to the quarter-finals.
After bowling out Zimbabwe for just 162, the Kiwis taken on undefeated half-centuries by Martin Guptill and Brendon McCullum to canter to the target with 99 balls to spare in the Group A clash at the Sardar Patel Stadium.
The opening partnership between Guptill (86) and McCullum (76) was the sharpest for the tournament.
The victory, the second for New Zealand by a 10-wicket border in the tournament, affected them up in the table with four points from three games. Pakistan lead the charts with 3 wins from as many matches.
Guptill, named man of the match, launched New Zealand's chase with a bang, dragging seven fours and two sixes hit 108 balls on style to his 10th ODI half-century.
McCullum was equally aggressive, hitting six fours and two sixes in his 95-ball knock.
Earlier, seamers Tim Southee, Kyle Mills and Scott Styris shared six wickets after Chigumbura won the toss and elective to bat on a benign wicket.
Simply it was not a beginning they would have wished for, losing their upper five batsmen inside 15 overs to a combination of Kiwi pace and spin.
Opener Charles Coventry was the starting to go, run out with just two runs on the board as Hamish Bennett at mid-on dropped the stumps down at the bowler's end.
Tatenda Taibu, doing into the game on the back of a match-winning 98 against Canada, earned a reprieve when Vettori failed to pouch a sitter off Southee.
But the bowler was rewarded off the very next ball when he had Taibu trapped leg before wicket for eight, a decision upheld after TV replays shown Southee's ball would have hit the off-stump.
Mills, support in action after missing his team's seven-wicket defeat to Australia, sent back Craig Ervine for 11 before Vettori dismissed Chigumbura and Regis Chakabva in his starting over to leave Zimbabwe in deep trouble at 46-5.
Opener Brendan Taylor (44) waged a lonely battle until he was struck on the pads against the gentle pace of part-timer Styris to be dropped six runs short of a deserved half-century.
