Cricket: Maiden title after 29 years

By RICHARD BOOCK

It has remained unopened and dusty for more than quarter of a century, but the New Zealand cricket team's one-day trophy cabinet was finally shown the light of day yesterday.

The win against India achieved what New Zealand one-day sides had been attempting since the shorter game was formalised in 1971, when Australia beat England in the first recognised one-day international at the Melbourne Cricket Ground - organised after the test match was washed out.

New Zealand played their first official ODI against Pakistan just two years later, beating the tourists in Christchurch by 22 runs in a match which finished in virtual darkness, with the combative Sarfraz Nawaz mimicking a blind man as he faced the final few overs.

Since then New Zealand have played 355 more ODIs for 147 more wins, and while reaching a tournament final on eight occasions previously, had never managed to get their hands on the silverware, much less the winners' cheque.

Their one-day trail is littered with the wreckage and frustrations of past campaigns. They include four semifinal losses in seven World Cup tournaments and the recent humbling at the hands of Zimbabwe - making the win in Nairobi all the more sweet for coach David Trist and his players.

In all, New Zealand have reached four out of seven World Series finals in Australia, on each occasion having won eight or 10 preliminary games to qualify, while making the final of the 1989 Rothmans Cup against India and Australia, and the Centenary Series final in 1995.

They have also qualified for two tournament finals in Sharjah - in 1987-88 and in 1996-97 - without ever being able to win the game that mattered most.

Apart from the disappointments at the final hurdle, their one-day history is awash with dramatic incidents and close finishes.

The most controversial occurred in the best-of-five World Series final in 1980-81, when Trevor Chappell - following instructions from his brother and captain, Greg - underarmed the final delivery to Brian McKechnie.

Then there was the World Series of 1985-86, remembered by some as the "Glen Trimble Choke Series," - so named after the hapless Australian allrounder who suffered a horror attack of nerves against New Zealand, in his only match for his country - and the subsequent return series here, when Greg Matthews was so unpopular that someone threw a complete porcelain toilet at him.

New Zealand first visited Sharjah, which has now hosted more ODIs than any other venue in the world, without luck in 1985-86. But they returned in 1987-88 to qualify for the final against India, losing by 52 runs.

Their march through the early 1990s was dominated by a stirring World Cup campaign at home, the emergence of double All Black Jeff Wilson in 1992-93, and the circumstances surrounding New Zealand's seven-wicket over Pakistan at Christchurch the following summer.

The match in question has been connected to match-rigging scandals in almost every corruption inquiry launched, with NZC chief executive Chris Doig conceding this year that the game was almost certainly "fixed."

There was a huge slump in fortunes for the New Zealanders through the mid-1990s, the Mandela Trophy competition in South Africa proving a particular embarrassment, though Glenn Turner's new broom managed to provide our first win on West Indian soil in 1995.

Geoff Howarth remains New Zealand's most successful one-day skipper, with 31 wins from 60 matches, but Fleming has now won 30 from 73 ODIs. John Wright won 16 of 31 as captain, and Martin Crowe 21 of 44.