Cricket: Harris enjoys dropping to No 6

By RICHARD BOOCK in JOHANNESBURG

It would be pushing things to call them trouble-free, but New Zealand will at least head into tonight's final World Cup warm-up match with fewer concerns than last week.

The side with the toughest assignment of the tournament offered some encouraging signs while disposing of Easterns by 78 runs at Benoni yesterday, and will be anxious to build on that performance when they play Gauteng tonight in Soweto.

The good news for New Zealand was the return to form of Chris Harris, another strong batting performance from Scott Styris and a barn-storming comeback from Jacob Oram, who took five wickets in his first game back after a finger injury.

The not-so-good news involved a second-ball duck for Chris Cairns, a scratchy top-order batting effort and some more laxness on the part of the bowling attack, which conspired to dish up an extra 2.4 overs of no-balls and wides.

For all that, New Zealand will no doubt be thinking that the pros have so far outweighed the cons, and that an improvement tonight in Soweto would have them primed for their World Cup opener against Sri Lanka on Monday.

Given the likely forfeiture of their match against Kenya, New Zealand are now facing the most challenging task of all the genuine title contenders, to the extent that they could know their fate by tomorrow week, after the second game against the West Indies.

Even before the Kenyan complication, Stephen Fleming's side had an uphill task because all three of their major pool games were scheduled first, in much the same way as their ICC Champions Trophy draw panned out last year.

Their challenge now is to make a flying start and win their first two contests, preferably not leaving it so late that they need to beat South Africa at the Wanderers on Sunday week - one of the more daunting tasks in world cricket.

But there will be some optimism after the contest yesterday, when New Zealand posted 208 for seven after being put in on an inconsistent surface, and then demolished Easterns for 130 in 36 overs.

Oram, who made good progress during the series at home against India, capitalised on early breakthroughs from Shane Bond and Daryl Tuffey and never allowed the opposition a look-in, ending with five for 35.

Easterns' low score could have been even worse, if Bond had not served up six wides and three no-balls, and Tuffey five wides, an area the New Zealanders will need to improve by Monday.

As for the batting, things were not exactly going swimmingly well at 88 for four in the 24th over, with Fleming, Nathan Astle, Craig McMillan and Cairns back in the dressing room, but the middle-order made sure of a respectable total.

Astle was the most successful of the quartet with 42 off 64 balls (including five fours and a straight six), and McMillan at least spent some time at the crease, his 21 from 39 balls representing an improvement on his career-threatening drought against India.

But, not for the first time in recent years, it was left to the all-rounders to ensure a reasonable total, a task Harris and Styris carried off with aplomb as they added 69 for the fifth wicket.

Styris, whose batting has become a revelation this summer, came in one place higher at No 4 and made 40 off 61 balls, a hard-run effort that included only a brace of fours.

In the circumstances, he could not have had a better partner than Harris, an old hand at judging the value of a pitch surface and a man with a point to prove after being overlooked for the early games against India.

Batting at the more likely position of six following the unsuccessful experiment at No 3, Harris again showed what he could offer the New Zealand team with an unbeaten 51 off 75 balls, a patient innings that ensured New Zealand would reach the 200 mark.

Interest will now surround what the selectors make of his renaissance. They are almost certain to consider bringing Lou Vincent back at No 6 for the campaign opener, and will probably also want to have Andre Adams on board as well.

With such strength in the lower order, it could be that the selectors are forced to play Harris at No 6 and drop someone like McMillan, leaving Vincent to bat higher up the order.

"I was relatively pleased with the effort," Fleming said afterwards. "It was a difficult wicket with inconsistent bounce and I thought our total would be pretty competitive."