14 Mar 2011

Black Caps ease past Canada and into quarter-finals

6:06 am on 14 March 2011

The New Zealand cricket team have booked their passage from Group A into the World Cup quarter-finals after Brendon McCullum set up a 97-run victory over Canada last night with a chanceless century.

McCullum's well paced 101 plus a late flurry helped the Black Caps reach 358-6 with an overall tally of 12 sixes to leave the Canadians with a target which proved far beyond them.

Canada, never up with the huge run rate, eventually finished on 261-9.

McCullum had earlier paced his innings at no more than a steady rate and passed 4,000 career ODI runs on 95 before reaching three figures in 107 balls including 12 fours and two sixes.

He was out in the 37th over for 101, caught trying to speed up the run rate off Harvir Baidwan.

Ross Taylor, who destroyed the Pakistan attack in the Black Caps last match, carried on in a similarly spectacular vein, firing past his half-century by scoring 28 runs off one hugely destructive over including four sixes and a four.

The stand-in skipper was eventually out for 74, having shared an explosive half-century fourth-wicket partnership with Nathan McCullum (10) reached in just 21 balls.

In all, Taylor hit six fours and five sixes.

Scott Styris (35), Kane Williamson (34 not out) and James Franklin (31 not out off eight balls) added late salt to Canada's wounds on a track which offered little for either side's seam or spin bowlers.