Nagpur: Openers Shane Watson and Brad Haddin hit half centuries to take defending World Cup champion Australia to a resounding seven-wicket win over New Zealand on Friday.
Chasing New Zealand’s 206 all out, Watson struck 62 from 61 balls and Haddin hit 55 from 50 to help Australia to 207-3 with 16 overs to spare.
But Australia’s 25th straight World Cup win was set up by the fast bowlers after Ricky Ponting had chosen to field first.
Mitchell Johnson and Shaun Tait destroyed New Zealand’s top order as the Black Caps stumbled to 73-6 before Nathan McCullum (52) and Daniel Vettori (44) made the score respectable.
Johnson finished with 4-33, while Tait was erratic but took 3-35 — including Jesse Ryder and James Franklin in the same maiden.
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