Watson helps Aussies retain Champions Trophy

By Rahul Bajaj
for Cricketain.com

Published: October 6, 2009

comment Comment Email This Post Printable version

Centurion: Australian bowlers came to the party on the big day, once again restricting the Kiwis to a modest 200 and then Shane Watson scored his second consecutive century to guide Australia to a six-wicket win as they were crowed the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy winners.

The defending champions hit the right notes from the first over of the game itself and except for a brilliant fast bowling spell by New Zealand’s opening bowlers, which was the only time when Australia looked in some sort of trouble, they always remained on top of their game and again proved that when it comes to the big matches, they are still the team to beat.

Watson smashed an unbeaten 105 (129 balls, 10X4, 4X6) and was part of a match-winning third-wicket partnership with Cameron White (62) under tremendous pressure as the Aussies were reduced to 6 for 2 with some brilliant fast bowling by Kyle Mills and Shane Bond. But they overcame the sedate start to chase down the target of 201 in just 45.2 overs.

Earlier, an already depleted Kiwi side got a major jolt when skipper Daniel Vettori was declared unfit for the final. Stand-in skipper Brendan McCullum won the toss and opted to bat first but New Zealand batting disappointed again and they somehow fumbled their way to 200 for nine.

Vettori’s last minute pullout with a hamstring injury was just the beginning of New Zealand’s nightmare. As if losing Jacob Oram, Daryl Tuffey and Jesse Ryder at different stages of the tournament wasn’t bad enough, the Kiwis walked out in the middle for the Final against the best team in the world without their inspirational captain and man-in-form Vettori.

This was a huge blow for the Kiwis as Vettori was New Zealand’s leading wicket-taker in the tournament with seven scalps under his belt besides leading their batting averages. Jeetan Patel was picked in his place but New Zealand were clearly not the same force in the absence of Vettori.

McCullum was left to rue his decision to bat first very quickly as into the 27^th over of the match, half of the Kiwi team was already back in the pavilion. Brendan McCullum (0) himself being the seniormost batsman, let his team down the most. He couldn’t manage a single run of the bat in the first two overs and after fumbling around for 14 balls, he edged one off Peter Siddle to leave New Zealand at 5-1.

The Australian pacers didn’t loosen the noose for even a single moment as Martin Guptill and Aaron Redmond tried to provide some stability to the innings. They added 61 runs for the second wicket but took 15.1 overs to do so. Australia struck again in the 19^th over when Aaron Redmond (26) was deceived by Nathan Hauritz and Tim Paine made no mistake behind the stumps completing a comfortable stumping.

Guptill had played well till then, getting a good platform to build on but he too threw it away as he offered the simplest of return catches to Hauritz and left his team tottering at 77 for 3 in the 23^rd over. The wickets kept falling with Ross Taylor (6), the next to go, caught by Hussey at cover point off the bowling of Johnson. Brett Lee then came back to remove the in-form Grant Elliot (9) with a brilliant in-swinging Yorker to trap him plumb in front of the wickets and the Kiwis were 5 down for just 94 in the 27^th over.

Neil Broom (37) and James Franklin (33) then tried to put things in order for the Kiwis adding 65 for the sixth wicket and taking New Zealand past the 150 mark. But just as both of them started to accelerate, they fell in quick in succession and New Zealand barely managed to reach 200 for nine. For Australia, Nathan Hauritz was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3 for 37 off 10 overs while Brett Lee took 2 for 45 off his 10 overs.

Considering Australia’s batting line-up, it seemed like the match will be a one-sided affair but Kiwi new ball bowlers, Shane Bond and Kyle Mills, didn’t give up easily, making Australia earn each run that they scored. They struck early blows and injected some drama into the otherwise one-sided final.

Shane Bond’s second delivery removed Tim Paine (1) and Mills then got the prized scalp trapping the in-form Ricky Ponting (1) in the next over to reduce Australia to six for two wickets inside the first three overs. They continued to build pressure as Australia faltered and fumbled to 34 for 2 after the first 15 overs. But Watson and White were determined to retain the title for Australia. They did not panic and ran hard between the wickets while scoring occasional boundaries.

The duo paced the run chase with utmost maturity, first weathering the storm and then opening up. Mills eventually returned to remove White (62) but the stand had yielded 128 precious runs by then and even Michael Hussey’s (11) wicket came too late as Australia had all but pocketed the match. Watson wrapped it up in style, hitting two successive sixes to romp home.

This is Australia’s second consecutive ICC Champions Trophy title after they won the last tournament in India a couple of years back.

Brief Scores:

Australia 206 for 4 (Watson 105*, White 62, Mills 3-27) beat New Zealand 200 for 9 (Guptill 40, Hauritz 3-37, Lee 2-45) by six wickets

Man of the Match: Shane Watson (Aus)

Batsman of the Series (Golden Bat): Ricky Ponting (Aus)

Bowler of the Series (Golden Ball): Wayne Parnell (South Africa)

Tagged with: Aaron Redmond, Australia, Brendan McCullum, Brett Lee, Cameron White, Centurion, Champions Trophy, Daniel Vettori, Grant Elliot, James Franklin, Jeetan Patel, Martin Guptill, Michael Hussey, Nathan Hauritz, Neil Broom, New Zealand, Peter Siddle, Ricky Ponting, Ross Taylor, Shane Watson, Tim Paine, Wayne Parnell

Watson helps Aussies retain Champions Trophy

Related News Headlines

Cricketain Latest