Cricket: Warne destroys the Kiwis: Australia's bowlers humiliate New Zealand in World Series Cup

New Zealand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .135

Australia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .136-2

Australia win by eight wickets

NEW ZEALAND went down by eight wickets in the face of a fine Australian bowling performance in their World Series Cup match at Adelaide Oval yesterday.

The tourists, beaten 2-0 in the recent Test series between the sides, scraped together only 135 runs after losing their last seven wickets for 31 and being dismissed in the penultimate over.

In perfect batting conditions, Craig McDermott had laid the foundations for Australia's victory with a spell of 10 overs for 15 runs, including the wicket of Dipak Patel. His fellow pace bowler, Glenn McGrath, weighed in with four wickets, but it was against the leg-spin of Shane Warne once again that the Kiwis really crumbled.

Warne, who took a record 18 wickets in the Test series, was introduced after 30 overs and he ripped through the middle order with 4 for 25 in his 10 overs.

In reply Matthew Hayden, playing his first one-day international in Australia, compiled a painstaking unbeaten 50, putting on 94 for the third wicket with David Boon, who finished on 51.

South Africa head the triangular tournament with three points. After beating Australia by seven wickets on Thursday, their game against New Zealand on Saturday was washed out by rain.

Greg Matthews, the former Australian Test all-rounder, will undergo a series of brain scans in a Perth hospital today after sustaining head injuries in an incident at a night-club in the city on Thursday. Matthews was reported to have suffered severe concussion and was vomiting blood after being ejected from the club apparently because of an alleged altercation with a woman.

Matthews' New South Wales team manager, Neil Marks, said after speaking with the player: 'Greg was drinking with friends and all he can remember is an arm coming around his throat with a forearm at the back of his head lifting him up. The last thing he remembers is heading towards the door off his feet, being dragged I suppose. Greg said he was drinking but that he wasn't drunk.'

WORLD SERIES CUP (Adelaide): New Zealand 135 (48.2 overs; G D McGrath 4-31, S K Warne 4-25); Australia 136 for 2 (38.5 overs; M L Hayden 50no, D C Boon 51no). Australia won by eight wickets.

Test scores, Sporting Digest, page 31