New Zealand sweep series with 202-run win
A violent opening stand and a superbly-paced Brendon McCullum ton handed New Zealand their third huge win in as many one-dayers, as Zimbabwe fell 202 runs short of their gargantuan target of 374
A violent opening stand and a superbly-paced Brendon McCullum ton handed New Zealand their third huge win in as many one-dayers, as Zimbabwe fell 202 runs short of their gargantuan target of 374
Scorer: Avi Singh | Commentator: Avi Singh
That concludes our coverage of the third successive one-sided international series in recent times, after the drubbings suffered in Tests by India and England against Australia and Pakistan respectively. Andrew Fernando's final match report will be up soon. Thanks very much for all the mails today, enjoyed the feedback as always. Hoping that the Auckland Twenty20 on Saturday sees a more competitive effort from Zimbabwe, this is Avi Singh signing off on behalf of Andrew, Venkat Raghav on the scoring desk and Nitin Sundar on the editorial desk. See you in two days' time!
New Zealand are presented with the series trophy as reward for their efforts. Zimbabwe have disappointed on their first overseas tour since their reintroduction to Test cricket in the two longer forms of the game. Their last chance to rectify the mistakes made so far will begin in two days' time in Auckland in a short and sweet Twenty20.
Brendan Taylor: "Congratulations to the New Zealand side who have outclassed us, we can learn a lot from them. There is a lot we can take out of the series even though things haven't gone our way. We now need to get something out of these Twenty20s."
Man of the Match is also the Kiwi captain Brendon McCullum for his destructive 119 from 88 balls: "It was nice to come in with a few runs on the board. Martin and Rob played outstandingly as they have all series. Some guys have had opportunities they haven't had to play for the country and have put their hands up. The environment we've got and the belief are really good at the moment. I just wanted to settle things down with Jake and Kane and then managed to get a few away at the end. Thanks to the fans for coming out, we love coming out to play for you and the support since the Hobart Test has been fantastic."
Post-Match Presentations: New Zealand Cricket president Denis Currie thanks the visitors and the home side for their efforts.
Zimbabwe desperately need to regroup and salvage some pride out of the upcoming Twenty20 Internationals in Auckland on Saturday and Hamilton on Tuesday. Their bowlers have been treated with less respect than ants, and today Brian Vitori suffered the ignominy of bringing up a century - with the ball. He could have broken Mick Lewis' record for most expensive figures had he had the opportunity to bowl his final over. The batting has been fragile, but in the last two games has been given no chance to recover due to the bowling and fielding shortcomings. Too many simple chances were put down by a side that has to take every opportunity presented in order to compete with otherwise superior opponents.
The Test match saw the Kiwi Taylor triumph over the visiting Taylor. The ODI series has seen Brendon dominate his opposite number Brendan. New Zealand were only remotely troubled during the 1st ODI when they batted averagely and were threatened by a Brendan Taylor fifty when chasing, but the last two ODIs in Whangarei and Napier have followed pretty much the same script. The New Zealand batsmen have made merry and have completely demoralised the Zimbabwean bowlers and fielders with relentless hitting. Tonight they have wrapped up a victory by 202 runs, and the series result has been just as emphatic as they could have hoped for.
BV Vitori c †BB McCullum b NL McCullum 0 (5m 2b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.00
RW Chakabva c sub (TG Southee) b NL McCullum 24 (74m 54b 0x4 0x6) SR: 44.44
Brendon McCullum, New Zealand's stand-in captain, has praised the contributions of young and old players against Zimbabwe, and said the "attitude is outstanding" within the squad
ESPNcricinfo presents the Plays of the day of the third ODI between New Zealand and Zimbabwe, in Napier
A violent opening stand and a superbly-paced Brendon McCullum ton handed New Zealand their third huge win in as many one-dayers, as Zimbabwe fell 202 runs short of their gargantuan target of 374