Kiwi batsmen play themselves into form; beat MCA XI by 46 runs

Mumbai, Oct 12 (UNI) All the top order New Zealand batsmen, excepting Nathan Astle, had some good batting practice as they easily beat Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) President's XI by 39 runs in a practice match played at the MIG Cricket Club ground here today.

Stephen Fleming and Lou Vincent, opening the innings, both cracked half centuries. Aided by good knocks down the order by Hamish Marshall and Scott Styris, the Black Caps were able to reach 246 for eight in their 50 overs on a slow wicket.

Left arm Nilesh Kulkarni enjoyed the conditions to hold the New Zealanders in check, taking one wicket for 29 runs in his 10 overs.

For Mumbai, talented young batsman Rohit Sharma was the only one to stand up to the New Zealand attack, which did not have Shane Bond.

Sharma made a quickfire 61 in just 69 balls which included seven fours and a six. He, however, did not get the support required as J Patel and M Gillespie both took three wickets apiece to bowl their side to victory.

Following is the scoreboard: New Zealand innings (50 overs maximum): L Vincent b N Kulkarni 59 S Fleming c V Samant b A Redkar 52 N Astle b A Redkar 03 H Marshall c sub (B J Thakkar) b A Salvi 43 P Fulton run out (Waigankar) 04 S Styris c sub (W A Mota) b Z Khan 27 B McCullum st V Samant b N Shetty 09 J Franklin c A Redkar b A Salvi 15 K Mills not out 18 J Patel not out 02 Extras: (lb 7, w 7) 14 Total: (8 wickets; 50 overs) 246 Fall of wickets: 1-95, 2-119, 3-123, 4-139, 5-186, 6-204, 7-208, 8-240 Bowling: Zaheer Khan: 10-0-49-1 A Salvi: 10-0-58-2 A Nayyar: 2-0-22-0 N Kulkarni: 10-2-29-1 A Redkar: 10-1-34-2 N Shetty: 8-0-47-1 MCA President's XI innings (target 247 runs from 50 overs): S Kukreja c H Marshall b K Mills 03 K Waigankar run out (Franklin) 04 R Sharma lbw b Patel 61 A Muzumdar b Styris 07 N Shetty c Fleming b Patel 16 B Thakkar st McCullum b Patel 29 A Nayyar b Gillespie 43 V Samant run out (Fleming) 17 A Redkar c Astle b Gillespie 06 Z Khan c McCullum b Gillespie 06 N Kulkarni not out 01 Extras: (b 1, lb 2, w 4, nb 7) 14 Total: (all out; 48 overs) 207 Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-14, 3-42, 4-77, 5-118, 6-140, 7-173, 8-196, 9-204, 10-207 Bowling: K Mills: 6-1-17-1 J Franklin: 9-1-26-0 S Styris: 8-0-47-1 M Gillespie: 7-0-37-3 J Patel: 10-0-39-3 N Astle: 8-1-38-0

UNI