Ahmedabad: Australia beat Zimbabwe by 91 runs in the fourth match of the Cricket World Cup 2011 at Sardar Patel Stadium, Ahmedabad, on Monday.
Set a target of 263 by Australia, Zimbabwe was all out for 171 runs in 46.2 overs. Cremer was the top scorer with 37 runs, while Williams and Utseya scored 28 and 24 runs, respectively.
Left arm Australian seamer Mitchell Johnson grabbed four Zimbabwean wickets while Shaun Tait and Krejza grabbed two each. Brett Lee and David Hussey had one each.
Earlier some fine spin bowling by Zimbabwe restricted the defending champions to 262 runs for the loss of six wickets. Shane Watson and Michael Clarke managed half centuries. Watson scored 79 off 92 balls with one six and eight fours. Clarke was more brisk as he amassed 58 off 55 balls with four fours.
Zimbabwe’s specialist spinners Ray Price, Prosper Utseya and Graeme Cremer tied the Australian batsmen down, preventing them from scoring freely.
Left-arm spinner Price, who shared the new ball with seamer Christopher Mpofu, was instrumental in keeping the run-rate low early in the innings with a tidy line and length. He finished with 1-43 off 10 overs.
Off-spinner Utseya and leg-spinner Cremer bagged one wicket apiece, conceding 84 runs in a combined tally of 20 overs.
In a rare show of aggression in the early overs, Watson and Haddin smashed two fours apiece in a Mpofu over, but skipper Elton Chigumbura promptly turned to spin.
Utseya provided the breakthrough when he trapped Haddin lbw, with Zimbabwe asking for a review of the umpire’s decision after the batsman had initially been given not out.
Watson was also ruled out lbw off Cremer following a referral, but not before he had set the stage for the final onslaught.
Ponting was run out after a brilliant piece of fielding by Mpofu, who hit the stumps at the non-striker’s end from deep midwicket.
Shane Watson was declared man of the match.
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