Australia v New Zealand
15-Apr-2004
At Guwahati, November 9, 2003. Australia won by 44 runs. Australia 5 pts, New Zealand 1 pt.
Toss: New Zealand.
This was Australia's sixth consecutive win against New Zealand, who won the toss, seized an
early advantage and then slowly but surely disintegrated against a line-up missing at least nine
front-line players. Having reduced Australia to 61 for four, New Zealand were unable to find a
way of stopping Ponting and Bevan on a sluggish pitch. Australia, already through to the final,
opted to rest Hayden, Gilchrist and Williams, but still found a successful formula when it mattered,
something their captain Ponting put down to experience - and Bevan. So often the architect of
New Zealand's demise, Bevan top-scored with 84 and marshalled the tail intelligently, wringing
every possible run out of the final five overs. New Zealand again struggled against the left-arm
swing of Bracken, and the only batsman who seemed to have much of an idea was Styris, who
followed up his man-of-the-match effort in Cuttack with a battling half-century.
Man of the Match: M. G. Bevan.