Nottingham: Aaron Redmond made a memorable return to international cricket with a blistering 30-ball 63 as New Zealand spanked minnows Ireland by 83 runs in their first Super Eight match of the Twenty20 World Cup here on Thursday.
The Kiwis first rattled up a healthy 198 for five riding on Redmond's flourishing start and then skittled out the hapless Irishmen for 115 in 16.4 overs in what turned out to be a lopsided contest at the Trent Bridge. Continue reading below
Andre Botha (28) and opener Gary Wilson (23) were the only two Irish players who could hang around for some time while most of the other batsmen folded up without much of a fight. Nathan McCullum (3-15) and Kyle Mills (2-12) were the pick of the Kiwis bowlers.
New Zealand went into their Group F Super Eights match without the services of three of their top players - captain Daniel Vettori, Ross Taylor and Jesse Ryder - but it did prove much of a problem for the Kiwis who cantered home without having to sweat much.
The Black Caps will take on Pakistan in their next Super Eights match in London on Saturday while Ireland clash with Sri Lanka at the Lord's in London on Sunday.
Redmond, a late replacement for injured Ryder, grabbed the opportunity with both hands with a stunning display of strokeplay on what appeared to be a good batting track.
Martin Guptill (45 not out) and the experienced Scot Styris (42) were the other notable performers for New Zealand. Put into bat, the Kiwis got off to a flourishing start with Redmond producing an array of strokes to rattle the Irish bowlers who gave away 32 runs in the first two overs.
Redmond was particularly severe against the pacers who seemed to lack control in the early stages of the contest.
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While Redmond plundered runs at will, stand-in captain Brendon McCullum was a lot more subdued, quite content in allowing his partner to hog the limelight.
Redmond, playing international cricket atfer a long gap, made his intentions clear by clobbering the very first ball he faced off Peter Connell to the boundary. He was more ruthless in the second over off Trent Johnston by hitting a few more boundaries.
The opening pair put on a brisk 51 runs for the first wicket before spinner Kyle McCallan provided the breakthroough for Ireland by evicting the dangerous McCullum.
McCullum, who was showing signs of breaking loose by hitting a six in the previous over, offered a simple catch to Regan West in the cover region.
Martin Guptill and Redmond kept the tempo going with a barrage of strokes on both sides of the wicket to torment the Irish players who had no clue on how to stop the run flow.
Redmond's aggression came to an end when he was trapped in front of the wicket by Alex Cusack as the Kiwis lost their second wicket at 91 in 9.3 overs. His 30-ball 63 was studded with 13 boundaries.
Guptill took over the scoring responsibility for some time after Redmond's departure before Scott Styris produced a cameo to push the scoring rate even more.
McCallan plotted the dismissal of Styris who offered a catch to O'Brien in the deep, his 25-ball 42 containing one six and three boundaries.
The lanky Jacob Oram scored 15 off seven balls before returning to the pavilion while Peter McGlashan (5) also could not hang around for long as he tried to accelerate the pace of scoring.
