Flintoff’s men go down to New Zealand by 90 runs

ADELAIDE: Pace bowler James Franklin went from villain to hero as New Zealand kept their triangular series hopes alive with a 90-run win over England at the Adelaide Oval here on Tuesday.

The Black Caps did not look to have enough on the board when dismissed for 210 after electing to bat, but bowled and fielded exceptionally well to restrict England to an embarrassing 120 in reply.

Importantly, the Kiwis claimed a bonus point for their first win of the series and moved ahead of England on the tri-series table.

New Zealand were inspired by an incisive opening spell by Franklin (3-17), and some typically clever bowling by cagey spinner Daniel Vettori (4-24) later in the England innings.

Black Caps captain Stephen Fleming was confident of defending the total, but conceded the bonus point was unexpected.

“It was totally unexpected really, it wasn’t until about seven or eight down we realised we had a chance for that,” he said. “It was touch and go half way through, but we were always confident.”

England captain Andrew Flintoff was understandably disappointed with his side’s batting.

“We bowled well and we didn’t do ourselves justice in our innings,” he said.
Franklin arguably cost his side an upset win over Australia on Sunday when he dropped a simple catch, but put his side on the path to victory with a three-wicket opening spell.

After Kiwi all-rounder Jacob Oram celebrated his return from a hamstring injury by making a bold 86 to enable his side to recover from 67-5 and make a competitive total, Franklin struck three key blows to remove England’s top three.

With Shane Bond (2-32) bowling at high pace at the other end, the left-armer overcame the disappointment of having a caught-behind appeal incorrectly turned down to remove openers Mal Loye (8) and Andrew Strauss (19), along with Ian Bell (2).

Vettori then turned the screws by claiming the vital wickets of Paul Collingwood (10) and Flintoff in quick succession with his cunning variation.

Flintoff had seen his side home in a tense run chase against the Black Caps a week earlier and had bowled superbly during the New Zealand innings with 4-21.

But he succumbed to a rush of blood, charging down the wicket at Vettori and getting a thin edge through to wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum, who claimed the catch at the second attempt.

England were 92-5 and, with Flintoff gone for nine, in deep trouble.

Oram capped a man-of-the-match performance by removing Paul Nixon cheaply, before Mark Gillespie leapt high to drag in an outstanding catch to remove Joyce (47) from the bowling of Vettori and seal England’s fate.

Unlike Sunday’s game against Australia, the Kiwis did not miss a chance in the field, while England only had two batsmen in double figures.

Earlier, Oram’s 86 was the backbone of the New Zealand total as he celebrated his recall with his highest score in one-day internationals. The big man faced just 89 balls, hitting six fours and two sixes.

They were like chalk and cheese in their approach, but Oram and McCullum put on 120 for the sixth wicket after coming together at 67-5.

New Zealand were in early trouble against some disciplined England bowling, particularly by Flintoff, who maintained his pace at around 150-kmph.

Fleming’s form slump continued when he fell in Flintoff’s first over for 20 and his dismissal sparked a collapse. Collingwood took catches to remove Peter Fulton (24) and Ross Taylor (15) and trapped Craig McMillan lbw for just two.

Scoreboard

New Zealand: S Fleming c Nixon b Flintoff  20, N Astle c Collingwood b Anderson 1, P Fulton c Collingwood b Lewis 24, R Taylor c Collingwood b Panesar 15, C McMillan lbw Collingwood 2, J Oram c Strauss b Anderson 86, B McCullum b Flintoff 30, J Franklin (run out) 14, D Vettori c Nixon b Flintoff 2, S Bond b Flintoff 2, M Gillespie (not out) 1; Extras (b-2, lb-3, w-6, nb-2) 13

Total (all out, 50 overs) 210

Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-37, 3-55, 4-61, 5-67, 6-187, 7-191, 8-194, 9-196
Bowling: Lewis 10-1-31-1, Anderson 10-2-47-2, Flintoff 10-2-21-4, Collingwood 8-0-40-1, Panesar 9-0-44-1, Dalrymple 3-0-22-0

England: A Strauss lbw Franklin 19, M Loye c Fleming b Franklin 8, I Bell c Fleming b Franklin 2, E Joyce c Gillespie b Vettori 47, P Collingwood lbw Vettori 10, A Flintoff c McCullum b Vettori 9, P Nixon c McCullum b Oram 6, J Dalrymple c Fleming b Vettori 0, J Lewis c Fleming b Bond 5, M Panesar c Astle b Bond 6, J Anderson (not out) 0; Extras (lb-5, w-1, nb-2) 8

Total (all out, 37.5 overs) 120

Fall of wickets: 1-21, 2-30, 3-31, 4-76, 5-92, 6-107, 7-107, 8-107, 9-120
Bowling: Franklin 7-2-17-3, Bond 9.5-1-32-2, Gillespie 5-2-25-0, Oram 7-1-17-1, Vettori 9-0-24-4

Standings

Team P W L NR BP Pts
Australia 4 4 0 0 2 18
New Zealand 4 1 3 0 1 5
England 4 1 3 0 0 4

January 26: Australia v England, Adelaide