THE BEST OF BAZ

 

Image Credit- ESPN CricInfo. 

Venue- Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington [February 20, 2015].

Hosts New Zealand were facing England in the Group Stage of the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup. The Kiwis won their first two games comfortably, whereas the English were battered by the Aussies in MCG. All eyes were now set for this classic group stage encounter in the national capital Wellington. 

On a batting friendly wicket, English Captain Eoin Morgan won the toss and elected to bat first. However, this did not turn out to be the best of decisions as the English were bowled out for mere 123 runs in 33.2 overs. Kiwi speedster Tim Southee made a mess of the English Batting Line-Up as he picked up 7 wickets for just 33 runs.

The Hosts needed just 124 runs to win the game. It was never going to be a tough task and the innings of Captain Baz ensured that the Kiwis win this game in quickest of time. McCullum literally blew away the English bowling attack. He was batting with pure class and arrogance. It appeared that men were playing against boys. Baz scored a solid 77 of just 25 deliveries. His innings comprised of 8 4s and 7 6s. Be it Anderson, Broad or Finn, nobody was spared. He hit them all in every part of the ground. 

In an hour the game was completely sealed as the Kiwis chased down 125 in 12.2 overs with 8 wickets remaining. The game would have ended a couple of overs earlier, provided Woakes had not dismissed McCullum. Today its more than 8 years since that inning was played in Wellington, but no cricket fan can ever forget those 39 minutes of BazBall.

To watch the New Zealand innings, Click Here.