Southee, McCullum decimate England

• Tim Southee picked up 7/33, the best haul by a New Zealand bowler in ODIs.
• Brendon McCullum scored a fifty off 18 balls, the fastest in World Cup history.
• England have not defeated New Zealand in a World Cup since 1983.Swing and pace are the prime weapons for a bowler. Combine accuracy and consistency and the bowler becomes unplayable. Tim Southee produced a display that reflected all the factors above and blew England away in the Group A clash of the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup game at the Westpac stadium in Wellington. Southee's final match-haul of 9-0-33-7 gave New Zealand victory by eight wickets with 226 balls to spare and this New Zealand's fourth consecutive World Cup win against England. The performance by Southee broke several records and this table highlights the achievements.
  BEST BOWLING FIGURES FOR NEW ZEALAND IN ODIs

  
  
  NAME	MATCH HAUL	OPPOSITION	GROUND	DATE
  TIM SOUTHEE	9-0-33-7	ENGLAND	WELLINGTON	20-02-2015
  SHANE BOND	9-3-19-6	INDIA	BULAWAYO	26-08-2005
  SHANE BOND	10-2-23-6	AUSTRALIA	PORT ELIZABETH	11-03-2003
  SCOTT STYRIS	7-0-25-6	WEST INDIES	PORT OF SPAIN	12-07-2002
  DANIEL VETTORI	6-2-5-7	BANGLADESH	QUEENSTOWN	31-12-2007
  Southee stands tall in the list and his haul of 7/33 is the best by a New Zealand bowler in ODIs, beating the previous record of 6/19 held by Shane Bond against India in Bulawayo in 2005. Southee also picked up his second five-wicket haul in ODIs, which incidentally came at the same venue four years ago against Pakistan. In the first ODI, he picked up 5/33 and bowled Pakistan out for 124. New Zealand chased down the target in 17.2 overs for the loss of one wicket. He also became the third New Zealand bowler to take a five-wicket haul in the World Cup, with Shane Bond (6/23 versus Australia in Port Elizabeth in 2003) and Sir Richard Hadlee (5/25 versus Sri Lanka in Bristol in 1983) being the others.

  In World Cups, Southee has etched his name alongside some great names. His haul of 7/33 is the third-best bowling figures in World Cup history. Here is a list of the best hauls in World Cups.

  BEST HAULS IN WORLD CUPS
  NAME	MATCH HAUL	OPPOSITION	GROUND	DATE
  GLENN McGRATH	7-4-15-7	NAMIBIA	POTCHEFSTROOM	27-02-2003
  ANDY BICHEL	10-0-20-7	ENGLAND	PORT ELIZABETH	02-03-2003
  TIM SOUTHEE	9-0-33-7	ENGLAND	WELLINGTON	20-02-2015
  WINSTON DAVIS	10.3-0-51-7	AUSTRALIA	LEEDS	11-06-1983
  GARY GILMOUR	12-6-14-6	ENGLAND	LEEDS	18-06-1975
  The table is not good reading for England fans, considering that three out of the five best hauls in World Cups have come against them. Andy Bichel put in a remarkable performance against them in the league game of the 2003 World Cup at Port Elizabeth when he picked up 7/20. Bichel generated movement on a regular basis at pace and England capitulated against him. Southee has repeated the dose 12 years later. Before Bichel and Southee, Gary Gilmour produced a wonderful exhibition of left-arm swing bowling to bundle England out for 93 in the semi-final of the 1975 World Cup in Leeds. His haul of 6/14 in 12 overs ripped England to shreds and for good measure, he thumped 28 off 28 balls to guide Australia over the line by four wickets.

  Southee's exploits had deflated England and Brendon McCullum decided to knock them out for the count. He blasted the England bowlers to all parts of the ground and New Zealand coasted to the target. In the process, McCullum smashed the fastest fifty by a New Zealand batsman in ODIs. Here is a list of the fastest fifties in World Cups.

  FASTEST FIFTIES IN WORLD CUPS
  NAME	BALLS SCORED	OPPOSITION	GROUND	DATE
  BRENDON McCULLUM	18	ENGLAND	WELLINGTON	20-02-2015
  BRENDON McCULLUM	20	CANADA	ST LUCIA	22-03-2007
  MARK BOUCHER	21	NETHERLANDS	ST KITTS	16-03-2207
  MARK BOUCHER	22	WEST INDIES	ST GEORGE'S	10-04-2007
  JOHN DAVISON	23	NEW ZEALAND	ST LUCIA	22-03-2007
  BRIAN LARA	23	CANADA	CENTURION	23-02-2003
  In fact, McCullum has a habit of notching up milestones with 'fastest' against their name on a regular basis. His record is such that he has one 18-ball 50, two 19-ball 50s, one 20-ball 50, one 21-ball 50. He broke his previous record of a 20-ball fifty which he achieved against Canada in St Lucia during the 2007 World Cup. Mark Boucher is the other batsman who has achieved a fastest fifty landmark twice in World Cups and both came in the 2007 edition held in the West Indies. John Davison of Canada is the only batsman from a non-Test playing nation to feature in the list when he smashed a fifty off 23 balls against New Zealand in the match where McCullum also scored a fifty off 20 balls.

  Thanks to McCullum's magnificent 77 off 25 balls, New Zealand coasted to the target in 12.2 overs. With only 45.4 overs bowled in the entire match, this features in the list of shortest match spans in World Cup. The criteria for this table is the total number of overs bowled in the entire match and not according to the margin of victory according to balls remaining in the second innings of a chase.

  SHORT MATCH SPANS IN WORLD CUPS
  MATCH	NUMBER OF OVERS	GROUND	DATE	WINNING TEAM
  SRI LANKA V CANADA	23.2 OVERS	BOLAND PARK	19-02-2003	SRI LANKA
  BANGLADESH V WEST INDIES	31.1 OVERS	MIRPUR	04-03-2011	WEST INDIES
  NEW ZEALAND V KENYA	31.5 OVERS	CHENNAI	20-02-2011	NEW ZEALAND
  SRI LANKA V IRELAND	37.4 OVERS	ST.GEORGE'S	18-04-2007	SRI LANKA
  SCOTLAND VS WEST INDIES	41.4 OVERS	LEICESTER	27-05-1999	WEST INDIES
  AUSTRALIA V IRELAND	42.2 OVERS	BARBADOS	13-04-2007	AUSTRALIA
  NEW ZEALAND V ENGLAND	45.4 OVERS	WELLINGTON	20-02-2015	NEW ZEALAND
  The match between Sri Lanka and Canada at Paarl in the 2003 World Cup is the shortest match in World Cup history. Canada were bowled out for 36, the lowest total in World Cups and Sri Lanka raced to the target in 4.4 overs. New Zealand, Sri Lanka and West Indies feature twice in the list. However, when it comes to a contest between two Test playing nations, then the match between Bangladesh and West Indies in Mirpur during the 2011 World Cup is the shortest. Bangladesh were bowled out for 58 and West Indies chased it down in 12.2 overs with nine wickets remaining.

  New Zealand love to bowl teams out cheaply during the month of February. In February 2011, in the league game against Kenya, they bundled them out for 69 while they bundled out England for 123 in Wellington. The notable thing in the table is that all the teams, barring the New Zealand-England clash, were chasing a target of under 100. This clash in Wellington is the first instance when a team has chased down a total in excess of 100. South Africa chased down 109 in 12 overs against Bangladesh in Bloemfontein during the 2003 World Cup but Bangladesh's innings had consumed 35 overs, thus a total of 47 overs in the match is not counted.

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