Harris hauls Kiwis to last-ball victory

Harris then came up with a dream act. He took 18 runs of the 48th Neil Johnson over; 10 came off the penultimate Heath Streak over and it boiled down to three off the last ball to be bowled by Johnson.

The drama finally ended as Harris hit the ball precisely between the long-off and the extra-cover fielder before punching the airwith joy. He had pulled New Zealand from nowhere to a thrilling last-ball five-wicket win over Zimbabwe in the pre-quarterfinal opener of the Wills ICC Mini-World Cup.

Campbell scored his third One-day hundred, and a 118-run fourth-wicket partnership with former skipper Andy Flower got his side to a significant 258 for seven in the allotted 50 overs.

It was always going to be a struggle for the Kiwis to keep up with the asking rate under lights with the wicket going slower as evening rolled by. Sensing the kill, Campbell pulled out another trick by making the spinning duo of Paul Strang and Andrew Whitall bowl together early on after New Zealand had made a bumpy start to their chase.

Mathew Bell pulled a long hop from seamer Neil Johnson straight to Craig Wishart at square-leg and Nathan Astle, on whom rested New Zealand’s hopes, was needlessly runout after a horrendous mix-up with skipper Stephan Fleming. Fleming tried to make amends but the slowness of the wicket curtailed his freedom to play strokesas freely as he might have wished to. He hung in gamely but the required run-rate was escalating all the while.

Boundaries were hard to come by and there was a certain amount of spring in Zimbabwean strides with fielders adding to bowlers’ good work. Paul Strang, with his leg-spin, and Andrew Whitall, with his off-breaks, kept the pressure on the batsmen.

Even Adam Parore, New Zealand’s best player of spin, found it hard to break the shackles. The pressure was bound to tell and the Zimbabweans broke through after 18 overs to end the 125-run fourth-wicket partnership between Fleming and Parore. And when Fleming was bowled by Whitall playing across just four runs short of a well deserved century, it seemed curtains for New Zealand.

Parore followed suit, holing out to Whitall for 52. But Chris Harris’ flurry of boundaries, including three off the 48th over bowled by Johnson, turned the world upside down for the Zimbabweans.

Earlier, it was a day of revelry for the Zimbabwean south-paws, Campbell andFlower. If Andy Flower was in a hurry, playing some innovative strokes, skipper Campbell just slowed down the tempo, sensing a big innings. Before perishing to an ungainly swipe — probably an indication of exhaustion in extreme humid weather — off the first ball after getting to his century, Campbell had ensured that his side did not falter in the closing overs.

Andy Flower, on the other hand, was more flamboyant than his skipper and gave his side’s scoring rate the requisite boost. When Andy Flower joined Campbell, the Kiwi bowlers, led by the bespectacled left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori and Harris were threatening to bring New Zealand back into the game as Zimbabwe had just lost two quick wickets.

Flower stole a few singles and ran some quick twos to get into his rhythm. He swept Vettori to unsettle his line and on a couple of occasions surprised the bowler with well placed reverse sweeps. He raced to 40 and in no time, got to 77 off 80 balls when he tried to play inside-out to Nathan Astle. He onlysucceeded in giving Harris a catch at short cover.

Flower’s dominance could be gauged from the fact that he got 77 off the 118 runs the two batsmen added. Campbell showed signs of fatigue but knew his presence in the middle during the slog overs was very crucial to the team’s chances. Though he took 140 balls to reach his century — hitting seven fours and one six — he did not miss many scoring chances.

When Vettori and Harris were troubling the Zimbabweans early on, Campbell was guarded in his smile. For he knew Zimbabwe had the spinners to exploit the situation later. Campbell was right, until Chris Harris came along.

SCOREBOARD

Zimbabwe: Alistair Campbell b Allott 100 (143b, 7×4, 1×6), Grant Flower C McMillan b Allott 1 (3b), Neil Johnson b Taite 27 (27b; 2×4, 1×6), Murray Goodwin c McMillan b Taite 6 (15b), Andy Flower c Harris b Astle 77 (80b; 6×4, 1×6), Craig Evans c Vettori b Doull 11 (14b), Craig Wishart not out 12 (12b; 1×6), Heath Streak c Parore b Allott 6 (4b; 1×4), Paul Strang notout 2 (2b). Extras: (9lb, 7w) 16.

Total (for seven wickets in 50 overs) 258.

Fall of wickets: 1-12 (G Flower), 2-77 (Johnson), 3-93 (Goodwin), 4-211 (A Flower), 5-234 (Evans), 6-240 (Campbell), 7-249 (Streak).

Bowling: Geoff Allot 8-0-54-3; Simon Doull 7-0-42-1; Chris Harris 10-0-44-0; Alex Tait 7-0-37-2; Daniel Vettori 10-0-34-0; Nathan Astle 8-0-38-1.

New Zealand: Mathew Bell c Wishart b Johnson 2 (15b); Nathan Astle runout (Goodwin) 9 (28b), Stephan Fleming b A Whitall 96 (130b; 3×4, 2×6), Craig McMillan c A Flower b P Strang 29 (30b; 1×4, 1×6); Adam Parore c Whitall b Streak 52 (72b; 1×4), Chris Harris not out 37(21b; 5×4) Alex Taite not out 11 (7b; 1×4). Extras: (b2, lb13, w16, nb3) 24.

Total (for five wickets in 50 overs) 260.

Fall of wickets: 1-11 (Bell), 2- 19 (Astle), 3-80 (McMillan), 4-205 (Fleming), 5-216 (Parore).

Bowling: Heath Streak 10-036-1; Neil Johnson 10-1-67-1; Henry Olanga 8-0-52-0; Paul Strang 10-0-39-1; Andrew Whitall8-0-35-1; Murray Goodwin 4-0-18-0.