Australia beats NZ by 147 runs - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Australia beats NZ by 147 runs

03/12/2005 08:46:57 PM Comments (0)

Pitch invasions and missile-throwing marred Australia's 147-run win over New Zealand in the first day-night cricket match at Eden Park, and prompted yet another security review of crowd trouble.

Play was stopped four times so security staff could remove a streaker, four other pitch invaders and fruit and plastic beer bottles that were pelted at Australian fielders.

Australian captain Ricky Ponting, forced to remove fast bowler Brett Lee from the boundary so he wouldn't be hit, said the crowd trouble had spoiled his side's first-up win in the Chappell-Hadlee one-day series.

"It just spoils the game, ruins the game of cricket," Ponting said.

Lee copped jeers from eastern terrace fans and had lemons, oranges and apples hurled at him after he took 3 wickets for 5 runs in a withering six-over spell as the Black Caps fell for 105 in 27.4 overs.

Stuart Clark took 3-19, Nathan Bracken 2-40 and Andrew Symonds 2-32 to rout the home side, whose top six batsmen managed 25 runs between them in response to Australia's 8-252.

Auckland's crowd behaviour was as ugly as Australia's performance was impressive.

Play was stopped for several minutes in the 27th over of New Zealand's innings after Lee complained to Ponting and umpires Aleem Dar and Tony Hill.

Dar and Hill approached the crowd - Dar rolled an apple off the field on his way - in a call for calm, while Ponting swapped Lee with Brad Hogg.

A barricade of police and security did not prevent the trouble, which came just nine months after a spate of crowd disturbances marred the first one-dayer between the sides in late February in Wellington.

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