Zimbabwe vs New Zealand, 3rd Super at Bloemfontein, Mar 08 2003 - Ball by Ball Commentary

and there it is, the game ends with an emphatic blow from Harris, short, straight ball outside off stump, heaves it almightily high over midwicket, pitches a couple of metres inside the rope, almost comes to a stop but trickles into the rope, teasing the chasing fielder, that is the winning runs, New Zealand winners by 6 wickets with 16 balls to spare, a clinical chase, led by Astle's foundation knock of 102* at his new-found position of No 3, and boy has it proven successful this tournament

slower, short ball down the leg side, Harris tries to glance it fine but misses, so does Taibu, failing to glove cleanly, deflected down towards fine leg, three free runs

tight, shortish, straight ball, tucked up in defence, played to midwicket, with most of the field now inside the circle

and there it is, Astle notches a second World Cup 100, and he's absolutely stoked, steps away to free the arms, full ball outside off stump and launches it hard and high over extra cover, just pitches inside the rope, 100 off 122 balls,

very full ball swinging in to the legs, clips it away just wide of mid on, sliding stop attempted but poorly executed by Grant Flower, sneaks through to concede an extra run, 11 off 19 needed

shortish lifting ball outside off stump, back cuts well down through backward point, third man around in the deep to field, 13 off 20 needed

good yorker length ball on the toes, Harris stumbles all over himself to keep it out, squeezing it up towards mid on, running with the shot again, 15 off 21 required

very full and angling right in to Astle, drives strongly from the toes up towards straight mid on, running with the shot, 16 off 22 needed

good ball, shortish ball outside off stump, keeps a little low through to the keeper, Astle cuts and misses, playing all over the top of it, well taken by Taibu standing up to the stumps

shot! juicy fullish ball and Harris lofts through the line, powerfully smacking it hard and high over wide long on, just pitches inside the boundary, the midwicket sweeper can't get around to that one in time

shortish ball outside off stump, pounded away straight to the deep point fielder, 21 off 25 needed

oooh! shortish ball just outside off stump, taps it down just forward of point, a very tight quick single taken, the throw to the keeper isn't so great, Taibu having to back-flick it on to the stumps as Astle scrambles through, TV umpire referred to but is found to be just safe, was a rather poor throw

poor ball from Hondo releases any pressure building yet again, low full toss outside off stump, driven sweetly wide of mid off and leaves the fielders for dead, Harris off the mark in style, down to 23 off 27 to win

fullish ball swinging in, goes for a big shot, playing across it a little, drags it away along the ground to the midwicket sweeper, 27 off 28 to win

shortish ball angling into the body, clipped away just wide of midwicket, Harris hurries back for the second as long on is around in the deep to field, 28 off 29 to win, Astle into the 90s

good length ball on off stump, jumps forward again, taken on the front pad trying to nudge it into the covers, hopeful appeal for lbw by Streak to end his spell

Harris jumps down the track to a shortish, straight ball, firmly pushed it up towards mid on, looking for a quick run but it's not on, Astle has to get back smartly, does so easily in the end as the ball is flung wide at the bowler's end, well backed up

good length ball angling on off stump, nudged away into the covers again, the crowd start to pick up, cheering each dot ball now

full outside off stump, firmly driven straight to cover

very full and swinging in on the toes, driven straight down to long on

oooh! good length ball from Streak, Astle pulls across the line, almost undone by the slightly less amount of bounce, swings it away through backward square leg, and finds the gap in the deep to perfection in the end, even though it wasn't cleanly struck