A brilliant throw by Chris Cairns to run out dangerman Brian Lara helped New Zealand to a 20-run win over West Indies in World Cup Group B on Thursday. With just a single stump to aim at Cairns took a relayed throw from Lou Vincent then threw down the wicket, catching Lara short of his ground and swinging the match New Zealand’s way. SCOREBOARD New Zealand S Fleming c and b Dillon 25, D Vettori b Drakes 13, N Astle c Jacobs b Hinds 46, S Styris c Powell b Drakes 5, C Cairns c Dillon b Hinds 37, L Vincent c Hooper b Hinds 9, C Harris b Gayle 19, B McCullum not out 35, A Adams not out 36. Extras (lb-10, w-4, nb-2) 16. Total: (for 7 wkts) 241 Fall of wickets: 1-42, 2-58, 3-66, 4-130, 5-141, 6-147, 7-188. Bowling: Dillon 10-1-30-1, McLean 6-0-38-0, Drakes 10-1-49-2, Hinds 10-0-35-3, Hooper 9-0-42-0, Gayle 5-0-37-1. West Indies C Gayle c Fleming b Adams 22, W Hinds c Styris b Adams 14, B Lara run out 2, S Chanderpaul lbw Oram 2, C Hooper c Bond b Adams 3, R Sarwan b Vettori 75, B Powell b Oram 14, R Jacobs c Oram b Styris 50, V Drakes not out 16, N McLean run out 5, M Dillon b Adams 8 Extras (b-1, lb-3, w-5, nb-1) 10. Total (all out, 49.4 overs) 221 Fall of wickets: 1-34, 2-36, 3-42, 4-46, 5-46, 6-80, 7-178, 8-191, 9-200 Bowling: Bond 10-2-43-0, Adams 9.4-1-44-4, Oram 10-2-26-2, Cairns 1-0-21-0, Vettori 10-0-38-1, Astle 4-0-14-0, Styris 5-0-31-1 RESULT: NEW ZEALAND WIN BY 20 RUNS MAN OF THE MATCH: ANDRE ADAMS Once the left-hander departed, West Indies offered little more than token resistance, subsiding to 221 all out in the final over in reply to New Zealand’s 241 for seven. Ramnaresh Sarwan made 75 and Ridley Jacobs 50, but the failure of the top order meant their efforts were always doomed to fall just short. The result left both teams with a win and a loss from their first two matches but for New Zealand, who plan to boycott their game in Kenya because of security fears, it saved them from almost certain early elimination from the sport’s showpiece event. Lara’s majestic century in Sunday’s tournament opener in Cape Town guided West Indies to a dramatic three-run win over South Africa, but there were no heroics from the left-hander this time and he cut a forlorn figure as he trudged from the field with just two runs to his name. The rest of the top order folded quickly before Sarwan and Jacobs restored some respectability with a partnership of 98, the highest in World Cup history for the seventh wicket. Sarwan stroked seven fours, including three off Cairns’s first over in almost a year, a terrible comeback to bowling that was quickly aborted after he conceded 21 runs. Plagued by injuries for much of the past 12 months, Cairns was thrown the ball in the 16th over with New Zealand in control but was immediately withdrawn from the attack after conceding three fours and a six, and bowling a no-ball and a wide. Cairns had fared much better with the bat, hitting 37 and sharing a vital 64-run stand with Nathan Astle that helped the Kiwis reach a respectable total after being sent into bat. New Zealand had seemed to be heading towards a smaller score when medium-pacer Wavell Hinds captured the wickets of Astle, Cairns and Vincent in 13 balls to reduce the Kiwis to 147 for six. But tail-enders Brendon McCullum (36 not out) and Andre Adams (35 not out) chipped in with an unbroken eighth-wicket partnership of 53 at the death, Adams smashing 16 from the final over by spinner Chris Gayle. West Indies also made an encouraging start, only to collapse when opener Gayle, Lara, Hinds and Hooper fell in quick succession. (Reuters)
