RESULT
8th Match, Group A, Nagpur, February 25, 2011, ICC Cricket World Cup
(34/50 ov, T:207) 207/3

Australia won by 7 wickets (with 96 balls remaining)

Player Of The Match
4/33
mitchell-johnson
New
AUS
Full commentary
end of over 345 runs
AUS: 207/3CRR: 6.08 
Cameron White22 (28b 3x4)
Michael Clarke24 (37b 4x4)
James Franklin 2-0-11-0
Hamish Bennett 7-0-63-2

On behalf of George Binoy and the rest of the crew, this is Nitin Sundar signing off. Cheers!

Right, Australia have walked away with the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy. Or so they say. I don't see any Cup being handed out. Anyway, that's the end of game 8. Sriram Veera's bulletin is getting updated here, so do check out how this game panned out. Game 9 continues to intrigue in Mirpur, so please head across and catch up with our commentary.

Presentations, hosted by who else but Ravi "Tracer Bullet" Shastri.

Johnson, based on his fine figures, is Man of the Match. "Happy with the way it came out. Important game for us - to go out there and perform, it was great. I have bowled first change for a while, I guess that's my role. If I get a chance to open the bowling, I'll put my hand up, but we have a fine attack with Lee and Tait at the top. I still remain aggressive and go for wickets, I am enjoying this role. Will like to bat lower down and smack a few as well."

Ponting: "Good game for us today. NZ are a very good one-day side, good win for us. We said right at the start of the tournament, if our fast bowlers bowl as well as they can, it can't matter who we play. They could have actually been better with the new ball. The fact that they took wickets early meant I did not have to fall back on Watson through the day. The top order played in a different manner to how they played against Zimbabwe. It was good to see."

Vettori: "Disappointing performance with the bat. Lost three or four wickets early and we were setback. Good that Nathan McCullum played the innings he did, but it was not enough. We have to move past this quickly and play well against Zimbabwe in 7-8 days. There is always areas to improve - fielding was outstanding, but bowlers need to back it up."

All over in Nagpur, the smattering of a crowd's seen a mismatch. New Zealand possibly, and understandably, might have had other things in their minds today. Australia have walked to victory.

Watson: "Good decision early on to bowl first, worked very nicely for us. Haddin and me wanted to just bat as deep as we could. Brad batted beautifully today, so my job was easier. Our next game is not for a week, so we'll take it easy for a couple of days."

33.6
1
Franklin to White, 1 run

Australia get the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy even before New Zealand could get the second new ball. Length ball, wafting past him outside off, White reaches out and steers with control through backward point to get the winning runs.

33.5
4
Franklin to White, FOUR runs

scores are level. Can New Zealand force a tie? I think not. Back of a length and angling across White who part-edges, part-steers it to third man

33.4
Franklin to White, no run

back of a length outside off, White reaches out, opens the face and dabs it straight to short third man

33.3
Franklin to White, no run

a foot and a half wide outside off, White goes for the full-blooded scythe cut .. and finds point

33.2
Franklin to White, no run

fuller outside off, While pushes forward defensively

33.1
Franklin to White, no run

back of a length outside off, defends into the offside as White struggles to force it away

end of over 3315 runs
AUS: 202/3CRR: 6.12 RRR: 0.29
Michael Clarke24 (37b 4x4)
Cameron White17 (22b 2x4)
Hamish Bennett 7-0-63-2
James Franklin 1-0-6-0
32.6
4
Bennett to Clarke, FOUR runs

and four more, Clarke gets a pull shot away, running the men at deep square leg and deep midwicket. Both of them converged and fell in hope but the ball sped past. Five to win.

Upset coming up in Mirpur? Bangaldesh 151 for 6.

32.5
Bennett to Clarke, no run

bowls from well wide of the crease as he changes his action following the injury, pushed into the off side against the pace.

32.4
Bennett to Clarke, no run

well short of a length outside off, Bennett seems to have injured his left leg - is that knee, ankle or calf? White hangs back and plays into the off side. Looks like a calf strain. Bennett was unplayable against Kenya. Slightly different today.

32.3
1
Bennett to White, 1 run

and he nearly falls for a slow back-of-the-hand legcutter. Comes on a day after White leant out and played the on drive and he almost chipped straight to short midwicket.

32.2
4
Bennett to White, FOUR runs

short and wide outside off now, Bennett's run out of steam big time here. White was so early on the cut, it went through extra cover. Go figure.

32.2
2w
Bennett to Clarke, 2 wide

couple of wides down the leg side, Baz does excruciatingly well to delay the denouement. That was headed for five wides

32.1
4
Bennett to Clarke, FOUR runs

imperious from Clarke, short ball from Bennett - he keeps bowling these, and Clarke keeps waiting for them and pulling away. Fully in control and played in front of square for four

Bennett comes on now. I did mean white sweatbands. W is too close to S on the keyboard sadly.

end of over 326 runs
AUS: 187/3CRR: 5.84 RRR: 1.11
Cameron White12 (20b 1x4)
Michael Clarke16 (33b 2x4)
James Franklin 1-0-6-0
Tim Southee 10-2-45-1
31.6
2
Franklin to White, 2 runs

Clarke ends the over with a couple. No pace from Franklin, no movement either, worked away easily

31.5
Franklin to White, no run

wide outside off, Clarke opens the face and defends towards point

31.4
Franklin to White, no run

White gets another easy single in front of square. Australia taking their time in putting a ribbon over this.

31.3
2
Franklin to White, 2 runs

width on offer outside off, and it is cracked away through point for a couple

31.2
1
Franklin to Clarke, 1 run

angling across Clarke from over the wicket, he opens the face and steers it backward of point for one

31.1
1
Franklin to White, 1 run

White plays him carefully into the cover for a single

Franklin the gentle trundler comes on now. Good time to slip in my next comment on Kuruvilla. He was six feet five and wore white sweat bands on the wrist. The resemblance to West Indies' fearsome fast bowlers sadly ended there.

end of over 312 runs
AUS: 181/3CRR: 5.83 RRR: 1.36
Michael Clarke15 (32b 2x4)
Cameron White7 (15b 1x4)
Tim Southee 10-2-45-1
Jesse Ryder 5-0-24-0

Peter Parker: "Nitin, who do you think should be man of the match? ... for us fantasy addicts."

My pick - Brad Haddin. In an unrelated incident, Haddin is my Fantasy captain.

30.6
Southee to Clarke, no run

another sharpish inducker to end the over, Clarke is forward and covers the line before defending with the full face towards mid on

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ICC Cricket World Cup

Group A
TEAMMWLPTNRR
PAK651100.758
SL64192.582
AUS64191.123
NZ64281.135
ZIM62440.030
CAN6152-1.987
KENYA6060-3.042
Group B
TEAMMWLPTNRR
SA651102.026
IND64190.900
ENG63270.072
WI63361.066
BAN6336-1.361
IRE6244-0.696
NED6060-2.045