Cricket: NZ ease to victory over South Africa [+pictures]

New Zealand's Kyle Mills celebrates after dismissing Boeta Dippenaar in Mumbai overnight. Picture / Reuters

MUMBAI, India - New Zealand opening bowler Kyle Mills took three wickets in 25 balls to rip open South Africa's batting and guide his team to an 87-run victory in their opening Champions Trophy Group B match early this morning.

Mills dismissed opener Boeta Dippenaar, Herschelle Gibbs and Jacques Kallis in his six-over opening spell for 18 runs as South Africa, chasing 196 for victory under lights, were dismissed for 108 in 34.1 overs.

Medium pacer Jacob Oram struck three vital blows, including the wicket of South Africa skipper and opening batsman Graeme Smith who top-scored with 42. Off spinner Jeetan Patel took three wickets at the end.

New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming hit a gritty 112-ball 89 with 11 fours to help the former champions reach 195 in 45.4 overs after they were asked to bat first.

Mills dismissed Dippenaar lbw in the first over and bowled Gibbs in the next, both without scoring. He then dismissed Jacques Kallis, who turned 31 on Monday, caught and bowled for eight, to leave South Africa 25 for three.

Oram took advantage of the unpredictable pitch by varying his length while left-arm paceman James Franklin, who bowled his full quota in one spell, kept the pressure on from the other end.

Oram forced Mark Boucher to chase a wide delivery and edge behind for eight and then had Smith misjudge a pull to be caught by Daniel Vettori at mid-on. He forced Shaun Pollock (1) with a slower one, forcing him to lob a catch to Patel in the covers.

Fleming anchored the New Zealand innings before he was ninth out in the 44th over while the rest of the batting collapsed against an accurate South African attack.

Asked to bat first, Fleming and the experienced Nathan Astle (14) put on 47 for the second wicket after opener Lou Vincent (17) fell early to Pollock, who became the fifth bowler to reach the 350-wicket mark in one-day internationals.

Astle's exit, bowled while giving paceman Andrew Hall the charge, triggered a collapse and New Zealand lost four wickets for the addition of just 25 runs to be reduced to 99 for five.

New Zealand last played international cricket in March and the rustiness showed in the batting. New Zealand were also without pugnacious all rounder Scott Styris, who joined strike bowler Shane Bond on the injury list with a hamstring twinge.

SCOREBOARD

New Zealand:
L. Vincent b Pollock 17
S. Fleming c Pollock b Kallis 89
N. Astle b Hall 14
H. Marshall b Nel 1
P. Fulton c Boucher b Kallis 2
J. Oram c Dippenaar b Peterson 7
B. McCullum c and b Peterson 21
D. Vettori c Boucher b Smith 9
J. Franklin b Kallis 9
K. Mills not out 4
J. Patel run out 2
Extras: (b4, lb4, nb1, w11) 20
Total 195
Fall of wickets: 1-27 (Vincent), 2-74 (Astle), 3-76 (Marshall), 4-86 (Fulton), 5-99 (Oram), 6-135 (McCullum), 7-156 (Vettori), 8-180 (Franklin), 9-192 (Fleming)
Bowling: Pollock 6-1-18-1 (nb1, w1), Ntini 6-0-35-0, Nel 6-2-15-1 (w1), Hall 4-0-25-1 (w1), Kallis 7-0-28-3 (w5), Peterson 8.4-0-34-2, Smith 8-0-32-1 (w3)
Overs: 45.4

South Africa:
G. Smith c Vettori b Oram 42
B. Dippenaar lbw b Mills 0
H. Gibbs b Mills 0
J. Kallis c and b Mills 8
M. Boucher c McCullum b Oram 8
J. Kemp not out 26
S. Pollock c Patel b Oram 1
A. Hall c Vincent b Patel 13
R. Peterson c Fleming b Vettori 0
A. Nel b Patel 0
M. Ntini b Patel 1
Extras: (lb5, nb3, w1) 9
Total 108
Fall of wickets: 1-1 (Dippenaar), 2-3 (Gibbs), 3-25 (Kallis), 4-50 (Boucher), 5-69 (Smith), 6-71 (Pollock), 7-99 (Hall), 8-100 (Peterson), 9-105 (Nel)
Bowling: Mills 6-0-18-3 (w1), Franklin 10-0-33-0 (nb2), Oram 8-1-26-3, Vettori 7-1-15-1 (nb1), Patel 3.1-0-11-3
Overs: 34.1

New Zealand won by 87 runs

Toss: South Africa
Umpires: Mark Benson (ENG) and Aleem Dar (PAK)
TV umpire: Rudi Koertzen (RSA)


- REUTERS