In the 90s a score of 250 was considered to be a great one to defend. Now 300 is not safe. Take last night's ODI game between NZ and Aus in Napier (3 March 2010).
Aus batting 1st got 275 to set NZ to score at around 5.6 rpo to win - no easy task with a strong bowling attack with in form Ryan Harris, Bollinger, Mitchel Johnson, Watson and Hauritz! This is an attack which hadnt lost a single game over the Aus summer including blitzing the windies and paks.
Scott Styris and Ross Taylor (MOM) took the kiwis to victory with 4 balls to spare! Styris and Shane Bond (pretty much the last pair with Oram injured) scored 35 runs in 3 overs @ 11.66 runs per over. The pressure was on Styris towards the death and came through with a fantastic innings under pressure. The 2 fours smashed by Bond in the 49th over was spectacular. Styris sealed the win with a huge maximum over long-off from the second ball of the 50th from Bollinger and finished unbeaten on 49 from 34 deliveries. He roared as the ball sailed over the boundary. A great way to win after the 'head to head' combat with Johnson earlier.
This was another game which went to prove, irrespective of the size of the ground, any score below 300 is achievable even by teams lying much below their oppositions in ODI ratings!
2011 WC will reveal a completely new face of the 50-50 version. Watch out for batters like Gayle, Sehwag, Afridi, Dilshan etc
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