Australia experiments, but not with victory

By Andrew Ramsey

MELBOURNE, JAN. 21. Australia remodelled its team and revamped its batting line-up but still emerged with a comfortable win in its first one-day hit out against Zimbabwe at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday.

It was the home team's fourth win from as many starts in the triangular series as it chased down Zimbabwe's inadequate nine for 223 with eight wickets and more than 13 overs to spare.

The win was achieved largely due to an unbeaten 92 off 104 balls by Darren Lehmann who was promoted to open the batting in one of a series of changes initiated by Australia designed to rest and rotate its senior players.

Assured as it is of a berth in next month's best-of- three finals series, Australia went into Sunday's game without its two best batsmen of the past decade (Steve and Mark Waugh), its best fast bowler of the same period (Glenn McGrath) and with a reshaped batting line-up.

For only the second time in 332 one-day internationals played in 10 countries over the past 15 years, Australia took to the field without at least one of the Waugh twins among its number.

The other time was three years ago against New Zealand in Sydney when Steve was nursing a twinge in his hamstring aggravated by a bowling spell in Brisbane three days earlier, while Mark was suffering from a viral complaint which triggered a throat infection.

That series also spawned the opening combination of Mark Waugh and Adam Gilchrist, the most successful one-day batting partnership since it began three years ago.

But even that was deemed dispensible as the Australians rested Mark Waugh and McGrath and replaced them at the top of the batting and bowling order with Lehmann and Brett Lee respectively. The batting change proved dramatically more successful than that involving the ball. Lee, returning for his second match since being diagnosed with back problems six weeks ago, copped a comprehensive pasting for the first time in his remarkable 13- month career. Charged for the first time with the responsibility of delivering the opening over, Lee began with a no-ball followed by a wide and things didn't get any better from there.

His first four-over spell of none for 35 was precisely duplicated in the second four, and his none for 70 from eight overs (including seven wides and as many no-balls) was the most expensive spell of its length by an Australian one-day bowler at home.

It was largely due to Lee's inaccuracy that Zimbabwe got away to a flying start, with openers Alistair Campbell (51) and Guy Whittall (25 from 28 balls) putting on a stand of 50 from just 52 balls.

But the introduction of Ian Harvey to replace Lee in the ninth over yielded immediate success when he tricked Whittall into a false shot off his first delivery and it all became a bit of a struggle for the tourist from there.

Wickets fell steadily to a less-than-penetrative Australian attack, with Harvey recording his best-ever one-day international bowling figures (four for 28).

After Campbell threw away his wicket with a simple catch to mid- on, the Flower brothers joined forces with the score at three for 78 and 30 overs left to face.

But having put together a fourth-wicket stand of 39 in 10 overs, Andy Flower needlessly attempted a reverse sweep shot against Andrew Symonds and was cleverly caught by Lehmann at backward point.

Part-time spinners Symonds and Lehmann sent down 17 overs between them, but the reappearance of Lee late in the innings allowed Zimbabwe's captain Heath Streak (23 from 30 balls) some quick runs as his team put together a defendable total in its first appearance at the MCG.

The decision to open with Lehmann in the absence of Mark Waugh proved a much more successful substitution even if he was the silent partner at the outset of the run chase.

Adam Gilchrist took the Zimbabwe attack apart with a blistering 39 from 29 balls as the Australians scored at more than seven an over and scored a greater number of boundaries in the opening 10 overs than Zimbabwe managed for its entire innings.

Gilchrist's dismissal in the eighth over provided little respite as Lehmann and Ricky Ponting put on a stand of 144 from 150 balls before Ponting was run out with yet another Australian victory clearly in view.

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