Flower's party trick frustrates Harris out of Kiwi attack

Zimbabwe batsman Andy Flower has got a party trick, his reverse sweep, and it is driving his opponents to despair.

No-one is immune from having the treatment dished out, and last night at Taupo it was New Zealand's most experienced one-day player, Chris Harris, who was singled out for the treatment.

Flower, who moments earlier had been given the benefit of the doubt after television replays failed to show that Craig McMillan had deflected a drive from batsman Stuart Carlisle onto Flower's stumps at the bowler's end, rubbed Harris' and New Zealand's nose in it.

He reverse swept three successive deliveries from Harris for four to fine leg.

Asked how he set a field for that sort of thing, New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming, who has seen the same shot plenty of times recently, raised his eyes to the skies.

"It is a great shot, it is a risky shot that does alter the field and it is awkward to captain for that reason," he said.

Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak said Flower, who was the world's second highest Test run scorer last year, had been playing the shot at will on the Indian leg of their tour which preceded their arrival in New Zealand.

"I've never seen anyone put it away like that.

"It is such an unorthodox shot it opens up another part of the field.

"He plays it almost as well as the forward defence," Streak said.

Getting on top of the danger that Chris Harris represented to the Zimbabweans had been part of their game plan, and Flower's three fours had forced Harris out of the New Zealand attack after he bowled only five overs, at a cost of 40 runs.

Flower plays the shot so naturally it is hard not to imagine it coming to the fore in the remaining two games of the National Bank series and later on it will be interesting to see how the Australians and West Indians handle it in their tri-series in Australia.