The first match between Australia and New Zealand.

Scorecard here.

Ponting has won the toss and elected to bat first; Gilchrist is looking seriously dangerous.

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James May

Only just turned this on, Hayden just out chasing a wide from Gillespie - AUS 1/83

Kiwis looking like they're doing the usual thing of bowling about 4-5 good balls an over but serving up one or two balls of dross which get spanked.

And might I say both Bill Lawrie and Ian Healy are being especially (unusually) complimentary towards the kiwis

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never believe anything until it is officially denied . . .

and a no-ball every over or so never helps either . . .

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never believe anything until it is officially denied . . .

Why wouldnt they? We like New Zealanders, they always perform well again us, especially Vettori and Bond.

Some good later order hitting by White and Symonds to really get this total going, one of White's strikes went out of the ground, it was off of Bond too, i almost spat tea over myself. Kiwi's will need Astel to fire at the top and good partnerships down the order to give this a good chase, their batting doesn't look as strong without Styris or Oram, but knowing the Kiwi's they'll either chase this down dramatically or fail dramatically. No in between with them. It'll be interesting to see if they target our inexperienced bowlers, Johnson & Hilfenhaus. Clark too hasn't been very impressive in the shorter form of the game, so we're vulnerable in that area. Can't for the life of me understand why Shaun Tait hasn't gotten a game yet.


Where's Chris Harris btw? That guy is a legend.

Good hat-trick late in the game by Bond *claps*.

Yeah that hat-trick pulled his figures back after a shocker of an over beforehand.

A good total by Aus which'll take some chasing. Hopefully the Kiwi top order can get things going, I get the impression that even the most die-hard Aussie fan is hoping the Kiwis can give Aus a run for their money after too many easy wins so far this season.

And Chris Harris hasn't played an ODI since injuring his shoulder in a Chapple Hadlee game at Melbourne a few years back. He's playing provincial cricket still and doing quite well (he's one of the few NZ bats with first class average over 40) but I don't think he's in the big picture for the World Cup, so no place for him in Bracewells world . . .

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never believe anything until it is officially denied . . .

Probably because Ian Smith isn't commentating with them. They love rubbing in to Smithy how inadequate the kiwis are compared to the Aussie team. I've also noticed that Mark Nicholas isn't kissing Aussie **** as much this time.....maybe cause the English are involved in this series.

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You obviously didn't see the Ashes then, mate. Nicholas must be looking for an Aussie passport he was purring over them so much

Anyway, a few points to make:

Jimmy Franklin was awful with the ball today, but he has always been a bit hit-and-miss. He bowled well enough in NZ against Sri Lanka and I thought that he may have made some progress but couldn't get the line or length right on a non-NZ pitch today. Could see him turn his game around with the bat though... He proved against Sri Lanka that he can play a vital role of marshalling a tail at the end of an innings to chase down a total.

Surprised Gillespie's got a game - there's much better bowlers than him available, but he does have a full repertoire on unorthodox shots to unleash if required to bat.

Anyone else think that the catch that Astle took from Clarke should have been pouched by Ross Taylor? I guess Astle gave a pretty loud call as Taylor just left it alone.

I think that batting innings shows just where the Aussies are vulnerable. They should have had 320-350 on the board considering the start they'd made. Michael Clarke and Andrew Symonds really struggled to get Vettori or Gillespie away and the Kiwis reeled them back to an attainable target. The Bond hattrick was just a footnote to the game really - good though the Symonds and Bracken dismissals were.

Yeah, missed most of the Ashes series....but I could just imagine.

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Kiwi's 2/11

Beautiful bowling by Hilfenhaus. He'll be one of the best bowlers in the world in 2 years.