Cricket: Battle between one-day kings becomes sobering lesson

And so it was over barely before it began. The most trumpeted one-day series for some time between the No 1 and No 2 sides in the world proved only how much superior Australia is to the rest of the world.

Australia won this third one-dayer by 86 runs to take an unassailable lead in the series.

While Michael Papps was the only one to spend the night in hospital, it is the Black Caps who need the kiss of life if they are to extract anything other than bruised egos from the series.

The television monitors in the main stand told the story, switching to the rugby long before the cricket had ended.

Some Black Caps will face a nervous wait tonight as injuries to Andre Adams and Papps may force the selectors to pick a new squad tomorrow. Not that choices are thick on the ground.

It's one thing to be outclassed but worse is that the Black Caps have shown little fight in this series, discounting a war of words between Brett Lee and Brendon McCullum following a Lee beamer.

By then Lee had already done enough damage.

Lee continued his stranglehold over the Black Caps skipper. In three innings in this series Fleming has mustered a paltry seven runs.

Lee has got him every time but this might have been the most deflating, Fleming chopping back on after playing loosely outside off.

If there's been one benefit from the skipper's travails, it is that other batsmen are taking a lead role.

In Christchurch it was Daniel Vettori in a hopeless cause, while last week Hamish Marshall and Craig McMillan stepped up.

Last night it was the same duo that got New Zealand off the ropes after the loss of Fleming and Nathan Astle, with a partnership of 69.

Like Wellington, it was McMillan who lost his head first, slogging Andrew Symonds into the hands of Mike Hussey in the deep.

That bought the Marshall twins together but any family telepathy developed static and brother James departed for an assured 14.

His demise could be put down to first-match nerves but there was no such excuse for his brothers.

Chris Cairns has played a mere 201 of these things but wouldn't have made too many more worse decisions than the one to call Marshall through on Andrew Symonds' arm.

It was an undistinguished start from the big-hitting allrounder. He nearly ran himself out and was dropped by Damien Martyn on two.

After those let-offs the table was set for Cairns but rather than dining out, he dropped his plate, hitting straight to Mike Hussey on the point boundary.

When Vettori went for his second golden duck of the series it was all over.

Black Caps captain, Stephen Fleming, was understandably disappointed with another poor performance. "We just weren't good enough, as we haven't been good enough throughout the series. We just didn't get going throughout the day. I'm watching far too much cricket from the stands and that's hard to take as a captain."

With a 3-0 deficit in the five-match series, pride is all the Black Caps have to play for.

"We need to salvage something because it's disappointing today to lose the series," Fleming lamented.

It was all the more disappointing because the target didn't look that intimidating.

Ricky Ponting did his best to keep New Zealand in the game by getting run out for the second time in the week. It started a good spell for the beleaguered Black Caps.

Chris Cairns and Nathan Astle worked hard to peg the Aussies back on the slow and low deck. When Daniel Vettori had Martyn trapped in front, the Aussies were 90-3.

When the pitch took care of Andrew Symonds and Simon Katich fell to one of Vettori's least convincing shouts, they were teetering on the brink. But Michael Clarke with 71 and Hussey with 65 rescued the innings.

A delighted Australian captain, Ricky Ponting, said: "We got a total we thought we could defend. It was a tough wicket to bat on. It was slow and had a lot of bounce." 

* Scoreboard

Australia

A Gilchrist c Astle b Cairns 18
S Katich lbw b Vettori 58
R Ponting run out 11
D Martyn lbw b Vettori 1
A Symonds c Papps b Mills 21
M Clarke not out 71
M Hussey not out 65
Extras (2lb, 7w, 10nb) 19
--Total (for 5 wkts, 50 overs) 264
Fall: 68 (Gilchrist), 85 (Ponting), 90 (Martyn), 117 (Symonds), 128 (Katich).

Bowling: D Tuffey 2-0-25-0 (5nb, 4w), K Mills 9-0-57-1 (4nb, 1w), C Cairns 10-1-55-1 (2w), N Astle 9-0-47-0, D Vettori 10-0-31-2 (1nb), C McMillan 10-0-47-0.

New Zealand

S Fleming b Lee 1
N Astle c Gilchrist b Kasprowicz 27
M Papps retired hurt 3
H Marshall run out 55
C McMillan c Hussey b Symonds 26
J Marshall run out 14
C Cairns c Hussey b Lee 12
B McCullum c Hussey b Hogg 23
D Vettori c Gilchrist b Hogg 0
K Mills c Kasprowicz b Hogg 1
D Tuffey not out 0
Extras (8lb, 3nb, 4w) 15
--Total (41.5 overs) 177
Fall: 7 (Fleming), 45 (Astle), 114 (McMillan), 135 (J Marshall), 136 (H Marshall), 161 (Cairns), 162 (Vettori), 171 (Mills), 177 (McCullum).

Bowling: B Lee 7-0-24-2 (3nb, 3w), J Gillespie 6-0-14-0 (1w), M Kasprowicz 8-1-28-1, A Symonds 10-1-36-1, M Hussey 3-0-22-0, B Hogg 7.5-0-45-3.

Australia won by 87 runs, lead five-match series 3-0.

Man of the match: Michael Clarke.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY