Zimbabwe 171 allout (Cremor 37, Johnson 4-19, Tait 2-34) v Australia 262 for 6 (Watson 79, Clarke 58*, Mpofu 2-58) Australia surged a big win in their first match of the tournament, reducing a brittle Zimbabwe batting line-up to 171 as the pace battery of Brett Lee, Shaun Tait and Mitchell Johnson proved too much to handle.
With Lee and Tait steaming in with the new ball, Zimbabwe's openers had every reason to be nervous but they quickly shed their early jitters - Charles Coventry's flambuoyant flash over cover point being a particular highlight - and started to settle before Lee switched his length with immediate reward. After twice being punished when lobbing it up too full, he started to dig the ball in and drew a false stroke from Coventry, an ungainly hook resulting in a top edge that Lee himself charged round to catch.
Brendan Taylor did his best to overcome the setback with some compact, uncomplicated batting, looking to rotate the strike where possible and lashing out only when it was warranted. He countered the short balls with increasing competency, aiming a deft glance off a Lee bouncer up and over the slips as Zimbabwe began to make progress once more.
Their revival was short-lived, however, as at the other end Tatenda Taibu began to grow visibly restless after a couple of well-timed strokes hit the field. With Johnson bowling gun-barrel straight, he stepped to leg and aimed a glide down to third man but succeeded only in giving Cameron White catching practice at a wide first slip. His departure, at 40 for 2, opened up Zimbabwe's vulnerable middle order and their chase quickly began to slide towards the mire.
Tait beat Taylor for pace, aiming one full and straight and pin-balling it off bat and pad to disturb his stumps. It was extreme speed that did for Craig Ervine, too, as he took his eyes off a Johnson bumper to wear one on the grille and was pinned on the pad in front of middle and leg by the very next ball. With the Umpire unwilling to send him on his way, a successful referral was asked for and Zimbabwe's scorecard started to take on a depressingly familiar hue at 44 for 4 in the 13th over.
Williams didn't look particularly comfortable against Johnson either, but he and Chigumbura did at least manage to survive the onslaught and slowly began to rebuild against Australia's second string. An accurate Shane Watson was treated with due respect but the batsmen looked to get after Jason Krejza, Williams slog-sweeping for a big six over wide long-on.
It was Krejza who got the breakthrough, though, tossing one up wide of off stump as Chigumbura bent into a paddle sweep, the ball taking the glove and lobbing gently up for Brad Haddin to compete the dismissal, the wicketkeeper whipping the bails off as well Zimbabwe's captain trudged off, just to be sure. Zimbabwe's last hopes evaporated soon after, Williams wafting Tait to slip as the score sank to 96 for 6.
Australia 262 for 6 (Watson 79, Clarke 58*, Mpofu 2-58, Cremer 1-41) v Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe's bowlers put in a spirited performance in their first game of the World Cup, keeping Australia to 262 for 6 on a good batting wicket at Motera. As has been the case so often in recent times, Shane Watson provided the bulk of the runs at the top of the order with a well-paced 79, while Michael Clarke guided their charge past 250 with an unbeaten 58.
On a pitch that had some grass on it but had been rolled rock-hard before the start, Zimbabwe might have been expecting Haddin and Watson to launch Australia's innings with gusto but the openers made a strangely subdued start. Chris Mpofu, the only specialist seamer in the side, maintained a disciplined off-stump line with the new ball, straying just once onto Watson's pads and paying the price as the ball was glanced to the fine-leg boundary.
It had been suspected that Zimbabwe might use the tactic of opening with spin, and so it proved as Ray Price shared the new pill and also lived up to his unapologetically brusque reputation, laying into Watson before he'd even faced a ball.
The Zimbabweans stuck to a successful plan and with pressure building as just 19 runs came from the first seven overs, Haddin stepped inside a rare half-volley from Price to thread the gap between cover and mid-off to ease Zimbabwe's asphyxiating grip. That might have been just the catalyst needed to break the shackles, but Australia's oddly passive opening start continued and just 28 runs were scored in the first Powerplay.
Mpofu changed ends for a second spell but Australia's openers then decided they had had enough of the wait-and-see tactic and broke loose with 17 off his sixth over. Zimbabwe struck back when Prosper Utseya came on at the end of the first Powerplay and after an exemplary start to his spell - in which not a run was scored for the first nine deliveries he sent down - had his reward when Haddin stepped back to a flighted delivery and was struck in line with middle and leg. Umpire Asoka de Silva thought there might have been an inside edge, but Zimbabwe asked for a review - this being their first ever look at the UDRS - and had the decision over-turned.
Ricky Ponting, in his first full international innings since recovering from a finger injury, started fluently and his presence also seemed to give Watson the hurry-up. He entered the 40s by thrashing Utseya powerfully down the ground and eased past fifty shortly afterwards with a similarly muscle-bound thump off Brendan Taylor's offspin.
A brutal pull into the stands off Cremer followed, and after a quiet start to his innings Watson started to strike the ball with ominous force before he was removed by Zimbabwe's second fortuitous referral of the day. Stretching forward to a Cremer legbreak, Watson played with more pad than bat to prompt an emotive appeal. This time it was Umpire Richard Kettleborough who decided there was enough doubt to turn it down, but wicketkeeper Tatenda Taibu insisted on a referral and Zimbabwe were rewarded with the result they wanted.
They were given a serious lift in the very next over as Ponting took on Mpofu's arm with a hard-run second as the ball rolled to midwicket. A pinpoint rocket throw hit the wicket directly to catch him well short to spark wild celebrations from Zimbabwe and with that Australia were 144 for 3.
Clarke and Cameron White started their re-building effort cautiously as seven overs went by without a boundary but as soon as the final 10 overs were entered the Batting Powerplay was called for and Clarke immediately found the rope with a fierce pull off Utseya. Zimbabwe never let the game get away from them, however, Mpofu recovering well from a cumbersome start to his spell at the death to rattle White's stumps and reduce Australia to 207 for 4.
David Hussey and Steve Smith came and went in quick succession but gave the innings some oomph while they were at the crease, both clearing the boundary with some powerful strokes. Clarke remained to guide Australia to a total which, while probably not as many as they would have hoped for, should still be enough for them to make a winning start to their campaign. Zimbabwe will still be holding out hopes of an upset, but they will need their top order to show as much fight as their bowlers did if they are to get close.
Presentation:
Chigumbura: "I thought we restricted them to the score e wanted to chase. but we have to work on our batting. It was a good wicket to bat on. The fifth bowler is something we have to work on as well. But overall our bowling and fielding was superb. We just lost too many wickets up front."
Ponting: "Good start for us today. Zimbabwe bowled and fielded really well. Slow wicket and tough to get any pace on the ball. Preserving wickets is going to be our strategy through the tournament ... The wicket was slow and hard to bat on. We kept wickets in hand and gave ourselves a chance to score a good total."
The Man of the Match is Shane Watson. "It took a while to get going, get used to the conditions," he says. "But it's nice to get used to different conditions and find a way ... a good time to get a bit of practice in. "
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