ICC Trophy: Kiwis thrash Bangladesh by 167 runs

COLOMBO: The New Zealanders were packed out of the ICC Champions Trophy very early in the tournament by the Australians. Yet they had a catching practice here on Monday, although with a difference. The practice was given neither by their coach nor any teammate but by rival batsmen in the final league match. The ones who benefited the most from this session was skipper Stephen Fleming and Nathan Astle.The duo brought off a couple of breath-taking catches each in the slips and the outfield. Astle plucked one from the air with a leaping, one-handed effort and, not to be left behind, Fleming dived full length to pick one a couple of blades from the grass. At one stage it looked as though the Bangladeshis were out on the field not to chase the 255-run target but to test how good the Kiwis were in catching the ball in its flight. And they seemed pretty impressed with the New Zealanders performance and carried on with deflecting the deliveries from Shane Bond, Jacob Oram and Kyle Mills to all parts of the ground until of course they realised that they were in the danger of collapsing for an all-time low score. They eventually averted that by a run to be all out for 77 in the 20th over, in the process giving the New Zealanders the consolation of winning by a bigger margin than their defeat to Australia. The shortcomings of the batsmen notwithstanding, Bond deserved the credit for luring the Bangla-deshis to offer edges with a brilliant seaming stuff. He finished the most successful bowler for both sides with four for 21. The way the Bangladeshis succumbed was rather surprising. After the manner in which they troubled Kiwis during their innings, they were expected to carry on the good work. That, however, didnt happen. In the end, Mathew Sinclair’s fighting 70 proved a big cushion for the New Zealanders, for whome the task of motivating themselves seemed huge than their rivals. Of course, there was never a doubt whether they will be able to defend the total, but it was not expected to come so easily although their opponents had no record that could frighten the Kiwis.