It is almost unthinkable that a team batting first gets themselves to 84/7 and ends up winning a match by 96 runs - they would almost have been happy to reach 96 runs in total themselves! but not Australia, anything is possible if you believe enough, and when you don't dismiss Michael Bevan early on, and let him collect off the slow bowlers, you will end up shooting yourself in the foot eventually, Bichel proved a master foil, sometimes even outdoing the master himself, top scoring in the end New Zealand came out with a strange approach, mixing very aggressive intent with laconic periods, and whilst that approach may have worked against lesser bowling attacks, it was unlikely to succeed today the use of Vettori at the top of the order was a strange change from what had worked quite successfully with McMillan in his place, even though he still hasn't really shown any sort of sparkling form this tournament except against Bangladesh this exposed Astle very early in the piece, exactly what New Zealand had been trying to avoid in recent times by placing him at No 3, and the predictable occurred, two down for not many this fuelled Australia's ever-growing belief that they could win this match, and after a few handy but unsubstantial partnerships, on came Australia's own wrecking ball to emulate Bond's efforts from earlier today it was a masterly move by Ponting, particularly given how Lee had been taken to in his opening spell, he snared the pivotal wicket of Fleming with a rather poor delivery, but that's what happens when you've got your tail up, you make your own luck from there it was just a procession, with the quick man taking a leaf out of Shoaib Akhtar's book by bowling yorkers angling in from around the wicket at the Kiwi left-handers, knocking over Oram's off pole first ball, and showed he could york a couple of right-handers to boot, finishing with 5-42 from 9.1 overs, New Zealand bowled out with an amazing 19.5 overs left to bat, and they only required 4.89 an over from there to win - but they needed 20 wickets at their disposal today emphatic, comprehensive, clinical.

Words expected to describe a New Zealand victory an hour or two ago if they had managed to polish off the Australian tail, but instead the plaudits go to the defending champions, who extend their winning streak to 14and guarantee themselves top qualifying spot for the semi-finals now, set to face one of Kenya, Sri Lanka or New Zealand at this very ground in exactly a week's time Michael Bevan, Andy Bichel and now Brett Lee will be wanting to roll up this pitch and take it with them everywhere they go now, special things seem to happen here for them New Zealand are now faced with an almost certain must-win clash against India on Friday, unless a couple of upsets occur in other matchesShane Bond has been named Man of the Match for his New Zealand-best performance of 6-23, but it will be a very hollow award for him, as his team-mates failed to come through with adequate support to clean up the dregs and win the match that concludes CricInfo.com's coverage of this rather remarkable battle at St George's Park in Port Elizabeth, please join us again tomorrow for Kenya v Zimbabwe at Bloemfontein, starting at 10amlocal time (0800 GMT), until then it's goodbye from us! any comments about today's coverage can be sent to comms@cricinfo.com - all feedback is greatly appreciated