McMillan surprises Safs, leads Kiwis into semis

by Stuart Condie

Craig McMillan

ST. GEORGE'S, Grenada (AP) - When South Africa's players were preparing to face New Zealand's bowling attack at the World Cup, they probably didn't expect to come up against Craig McMillan.

They certainly wouldn't have bet on him taking his first wicket in three World Cups. And his second. And his third.

Shane Bond, who has confirmed his status as one of the world's leading fast bowlers at the Caribbean tournament, opened the attack against the Proteas alongside James Franklin and each accounted for an opening batsman.

However, when the Black Caps needed another breakthrough, captain Stephen Fleming turned to a man who is more renowned for his batting and had bowled fewer than 15 overs in seven previous tournament matches.

McMillan came on and took a wicket in three of his first four overs, and then hit 38 not out to lead New Zealand to a five-wicket win in the teams' Super 8s match in Grenada and a place in the World Cup semifinals.

"I haven't taken that many wickets for a while and Flem generally gives me the ball at short notice if we're in a bit of trouble," man-of-the-match McMillan said. "I usually get one wicket, usually at one or two overs at a time, but to pick up three is a little bit unheard of."

Scott Styris is recognized as New Zealand's premier allrounder, but bowled just three overs after hitting 111 against Sri Lanka on Thursday.

It was Styris' previous success that let McMillan get his chance.

"Macca is similar to Scotty, but Scotty's had a big couple of days," Fleming said. "Macca has the ability to get a wicket out of the blue and he did that today.

"It was very timely to throw someone in there they hadn't thought about that much."

Speed and movement from New Zealand's pace bowlers and accuracy from its spinners restricted the Proteas' scoring, creating such pressure that three batsmen were out trying to smash the apparently unthreatening McMillan.

He got Herschelle Gibbs to play on and depart for a 100-ball 60, lured Ashwell Prince (37) into hitting back up the wicket to Patel, and had Mark Boucher caught by Peter Fulton for 16.

McMillan finished with 3-23 in South Africa's 193 for seven. New Zealand, led by Styris' 56 and Fleming's 50, then reached 196-5 with 10 balls left.

With a bit of help from McMillan.

SCOREBOARD

South Africa

Graeme Smith c Oram b Bond 1

A.B. de Villiers lbw b Franklin 0

Jacques Kallis c Bond b Vettori 22

Herschelle Gibbs b McMillan 60

Ashwell Prince c Patel b McMillan 37

Mark Boucher c Fulton b McMillan 16

Shaun Pollock not out 21

Andrew Hall c Oram b Bond 17

Robin Peterson not out 8

Extras: (3lb, 7w, 1nb) 11

TOTAL: (for seven wickets) 193

Overs: 50

Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-3, 3-52, 4-128, 5-145, 6-149, 7-187.

Did not bat: Andre Nel, Makhaya Ntini.

Bowling: James Franklin 7-2-16-1 (1w), Shane Bond 10-1-26-2 (1nb, 1w), Jacob Oram 5-2-23-0, Jeetan Patel 10-1-36, Daniel Vettori

10-0-50-1 (1w), Scott Styris 3-0-16-0 (2w), Craig McMillan 5-0-23-3.

New Zealand

Stephen Fleming c Boucher b Pollock 50

Peter Fulton c Hall b Ntini 16

Ross Taylor lbw b Nel 10

Scott Styris c Gibbs b Petersen 56

Craig McMillan not out 38

Jacob Oram b Nel 10

Brendon McCullum not out 4

Extras: (3lb, 8w, 1nb) 12

TOTAL: (for five wickets) 196

Overs: 48.2

Fall of wickets: 1-25, 2-42, 3-120, 4-176, 5-192.

Did not bat: Daniel Vettori, James Franklin, Shane Bond, Jeetan Patel.

Bowling: Shaun Pollock 10-0-30-1 (1w), Makhaya Ntini 10-0-42-1 (1w), Andre Nel 9.2-0-33-2 (1nb, 1w), Andrew Hall 8-0-32-0 (2w), Robin Peterson 7-0-39-1 (2w), Jacques Kallis 4-0-17-0.

Result: New Zealand won by five wickets.

Toss: New Zealand.

Umpires: Mark Benson, England, Daryl Harper, Australia.

TV Umpire: Billy Doctrove, West Indies.

Match referee: Chris

Broad, England.