Close Australia 296 for 7 (Martyn 73) beat New Zealand 132 all out (McGrath 5-37) by 164 runs
Scorecard

A devastating display of fast bowling by Glenn McGrath handed defending champions New Zealand a humiliating 164-run defeat, and gave Australia their first Champions Trophy win in three attempts.

Chasing a total of 296 was never likely to be easy, but McGrath ensured that New Zealand didn't even have a sniff of victory. Slicing through their top order like a hot knife through butter, McGrath took five of the top six wickets. By the time he was done with his first spell, his figures read 7-1-37-5, and New Zealand's scorecard wore a miserable look.

McGrath took two wickets in two balls after Jason Gillespie had drawn first blood, trapping Nathan Astle in front for a second-ball duck (9 for 1). Stephen Fleming (12) was out lbw to one that pitched on off and straightened, and next ball, Lou Vincent was smartly snaffled by Damien Martyn at third slip (17 for 3).

Mathew Sinclair and Scott Styris resisted briefly, but McGrath was not to be denied. Styris made 16 before he nicked an attempted pull to the keeper (44 for 4). Five runs later, another McGrath special on the corridor kissed the outside edge of Sinclair's bat on the way to Gilchrist. And when Jacob Oram was bowled shouldering arms for 1 (51 for 6), New Zealand were staring down the barrel. That wicket was also McGrath's 250th in one-day internationals.

Lee helped himself to some easy pickings too, and only a 50-run last-wicket partnership by Kyle Mills and Shane Bond – the highest of the innings – allowed New Zealand get past 100 and stretch their innings into the 27th over. Both Bevan and Ponting dropped skiers during this period, but those were the only lapses on the field by a wonderfully committed Australian outfit.

Earlier, Australia's imposing total was built around two profitable periods of play. Gilchrist was the protagonist of the first one – his 30-ball 44 got Australia off to a blazing start. Merciless on anything that was even marginally off target, Gilchrist cut and pulled with savage power as Australia brought up their fifty in the seventh over. He finally holed out to Sinclair off Tuffey (68 for 1), but Ricky Ponting kept up the momentum, as Australia rattled 109 runs in the first 15.

Then came New Zealand's best period in the match. Daniel Vettori put forward an excellent exhibition of left-arm spin bowling, and with Fleming making some astute bowling and fielding changes, New Zealand seemed back in the hunt as the next 19 overs went for only 67 runs.

Bond was brought back for a second spell after conceding 25 runs in his first four overs. Fleming packed the off-side field, and though Ponting creamed a couple of fours, he finally drove airily straight to Fleming at short cover for 37 (129 for 2). Then, Vettori flummoxed Matthew Hayden for 43 with a delivery that spun after pitching on the rough, and sneaked between bat and pad to knock off stump (143 for 3). Bowling his 10 overs on the trot, Vettori finished with outstanding figures of 1 for 25.

However, he was done by the 34th over, and Australia's batsmen grabbed the initiative again, scoring 120 from the last 16. Martyn began scratchily – he was dropped by Fleming at first slip on 2, and took all of 47 balls to score his first 25 runs – but grew in confidence as the innings progressed, caressing his cover-drives with his customary panache to end up scoring 73 from only 87 balls.

The lower order contributed useful runs too, and Ponting would have been pleased with the batting effort after he had won the toss. However, on a good batting track and a fast outfield, Fleming would have expected his batsmen to mount a reasonable challenge. But that was before McGrath started his seven-over blitz.

S Rajesh is sub editor of Wisden.com in India.

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