Cricket: Red faces as Black Caps bow to club

The Black Caps head into their final warm-up for the Champions Trophy in South Africa knowing today's match against India can't be any more embarrassing than yesterday's loss to the Port Elizabeth Warriors side.

Eastern Province bowler Juan Theron was the hero with bat and ball as the club side won with two wickets to spare in the second-to-last over of the day.

Ironically, captain Daniel Vettori (who did not play) had stipulated the New Zealanders needed to focus on partnerships - and that was precisely what he didn't get, apart from a partnership of 95 between Martin Guptill and Ross Taylor.

Both scored half centuries - Guptill 78, off 97 balls with three fours and a six; and Taylor 51, off 70 balls with eight fours. Grant Elliott hit a typically grafting, keep-the-scoreboard-ticking-over 47 off 48 balls but the batsmen failed to prosper from a start that saw them 173 for two at one stage.

In a typical collapse, they then lost eight wickets for 64 runs to finish on 237 all out in the 47th over.

Vettori said before the match: "The team that steps up with partnerships will be the team to win the tournament. We haven't been doing that of late, particularly in Sri Lanka and across all formats of the game. Partnerships will win this tournament.

"The lack of consistency in the batting is a worry and there may be a lack of competition for places," Vettori said. "But the batsmen all have pretty good stats, Grant Elliott and Martin Guptill are averaging nearly 50, and Jesse Ryder, Ross Taylor and Brendon McCullum have had great seasons in the past.

"We just need to put it together as a team."

Vettori said the pressure would be on the top order to put together strong stands if they were to lift the Champions Trophy for a second time, having won in 2000-01. He warned the team could find conditions in South Africa similar to those in which they struggled in Sri Lanka.

"Both our coach [Andy Moles] and assistant coach [Mark O'Donnell] have extensive experience with domestic teams here and there's been a lot of talk about the early-season pitches being slow," he said. ""We'll have to wait and see what we get."

For the Warriors, paceman Theron did most of the damage, taking five for 42 off 8.1 overs. While Theron is not just a club cricketer and is well known in South Africa, this was nonetheless a considerable slap in the face for the Black Caps.

Daryl Tuffey and Ian Butler then got among the wickets themselves, Butler taking four for 53 with Tuffey returning three for 49, both bowling nine overs.

They prevented the Warriors returning many fruitful partnerships either and the match was finely poised until Theron arrived at the crease, hitting 21 runs off 19 balls to take the club side to victory in the 49th over.

Scoreboard

Champions Trophy warm-up match between New Zealand and the Port Elizabeth Warriors in Pretoria.

NEW ZEALAND

McCullumc Meyer b Theron18Guptillc Thyssen b Smuts78Taylorc Meyer b Kreusch51Elliottb Theron47Broomc Brown b Birch18Hopkinsc Birch b Theron11Millsc Jacobs b Meyer1Diamantib Theron3Butlerb Theron0Patelc Jacobs b Meyer1Tuffeynot out0Extras (1b, 2lb, 3w, 3nb) 9

TOTAL (all out, 46.1 overs)237

FOWs: 26, 121, 173, 210, 227, 232, 236, 236, 237, 237.

Bowling: Theron 8.1-0-42-5 (1nb), Birch 8-0-49-1 (2w), Brown 7-1-34-0, Meyer 4-0-15-2 (1nb, 1w), Smuts 10-0-44-1 (1nb), Kreusch 4-0-23-1, Dolley 5-0-27-0.

WARRIORS

Smithc Taylor b Tuffey19Smutslbw b Tuffey27Ingramc Taylor b Tuffey22Jacobsc McCullum b Butler14Kreuschb Elliott37Jacobsb Butler54Thyssenb Butler23Theronnot out21Meyerb Butler0Brownnot out8 Extras (7lb, 7w) 14

TOTAL (for 8 wickets, 48.5 overs)239

Bowling: Mills 10-2-35-0, Tuffey 9-0-49-3, Butler 9.5-0-53-4, Patel 10-0-29-0, Diamanti 2.3-0-13-0, Elliott 4-0-32-1, Broom 1.3-0-13-0, Guptill 2-0-8-0.