Cricket: Harris shows courage despite injury

SYDNEY - Injury wrecked New Zealand all-rounder Chris Harris' 250th one-day cricket international here last night, but he ended it with a badge of courage.

Australian captain Ricky Ponting praised the 35-year-old Cantabrian's bravery for coming out to bat at No 11 when in obvious pain from a serious shoulder injury in an attempt to wrest the second Chappell-Hadlee Trophy match the New Zealanders' way.

It was all in vain when Australian paceman Glenn McGrath castled him with a yorker after he had cobbled together four runs.

Ponting was batting when Harris fell heavily on his right shoulder in the 20th over.

"He was saying out there that he couldn't feel his arm and he felt his shoulder was out of joint. So that being the case I didn't think he would bat," Ponting said after the match.

"As soon as he was out, I ran straight to the middle of the wicket to him and said I thought that was a very gutsy and very good effort for him to come out and bat and do the best for his team that he possibly could.

"You could see that he was very restricted and hurting a lot. He showed a lot of guts."

Harris' injury was diagnosed as a torn rotator cuff and he was to fly home today to see a specialist.

Team management had said Harris would only bat if absolutely necessary and that didn't look likely with the score at 166 for eight.

But Daniel Vettori and Kyle Mills came together for a ninth wicket partnership of 70 to give New Zealand a sniff of victory.

With Mills pummelling four sixes off a startled Aussie attack, Harris padded up, with some difficulty, in the pavilion. And when Vettori was run out with New Zealand requiring 26 runs to win at a run a ball rate, he appeared from the stands with Nathan Astle accompanying him as a runner.

He cover-drove his first delivery from Glenn McGrath for a single, setting off for a run before remembering that was Astle's job.

He winced noticeably in narrowly avoiding a vicious lifting delivery from Brett Lee in the next over, before parrying a ball through the vacant slips area for two. He scored another single in that over, before lining up to face McGrath again with 18 runs needed from 18 balls.

McGrath fired down a yorker that Harris couldn't get his bat on quickly enough and a brave effort was foiled.

His head slumped before departing the SCG where he played his first one-day international in the 1990-91 world series championship.

New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming also praised Harris afterwards.

"He's a pretty courageous guy anyway and he saw perhaps the opportunity to win the game so he did what he felt was best. He was in pain and still felt he could do a job and as we got closer it became a real option.

"If were 50 or 60 shy there was no point in him coming out, because he couldn't have batted for that long. But with Kyle and Daniel going so well the opportunity for one of them to finish the game was still a possibility and that is where we saw the option."

Harris' bowling was missed as the Australians took advantage of a weakened New Zealand attack late in their innings to post 261 for seven in their 50 overs.

"It was disappointing because he would have been useful on that wicket," said Fleming. "With the figures some of the seamers walked away with, he would probably have done better on that surface. Obviously to have him in that batting lineup would have nice as well. He wasn't having a great day in the field but he is a very good fielder and he would have turned that around."

- NZPA