In St. Lucia today, New Zealand continued their impressive march through Group C at the 2007 World Cup. They completed a sweep of their three group matches by dispatching Canada by 114 runs. Both teams recorded their highest ever total at a World Cup, but Lou Vincent's century and Brendon McCallum's fastest ever World Cup 50 (off 20 balls) were too much for the Canadians.
Batting first on the slow and low Beausejour Stadium pitch, New Zealand piled up a massive 363/5 off their 50 overs. The Kiwis had solid partnerships throughout the innings as only Craig McMillan failed to get a start. The McCullum onslaught at the end of the innings helped push the Kiwis to their record score as the scored 85 off the last 7 overs. McCullum's fastest ever World Cup 50 betters Mark Boucher's 5 day old record, when he belted 50 off 21 deliveries against the Dutch.
The Canadians responded aggressively with John Davison threatening to repeat the lashing he inflicted on the Windies in the 2003 tournament. His dismissal for 52 off 31 balls killed off any question as to whether the outcome was in doubt. Useful knocks by Geoff Barnett, Ian Bilcliff and Ashish Baggai took the Canadians to their highest ever World Cup total of 249.
In St. Kitts, the Netherlands demolished Scotland by 8 wickets. Sent in to bat, the Scots lost wickets early and often and were routed for 136. This was supposed to be their 'big' match - the one that they had an excellent chance of winning and they embarrassingly under performed. The Dutch then raced to 140/2 inside 24 overs on the back of Bas Zuiderent's unbeated 47 and Ryan ten Doeschate's unbeaten 70.
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