AFP, Wellington :
Paceman Tim Southee recorded the best one-day figures by a New Zealander while Brendon McCullum hit the fastest World Cup half-century to lead their team’s one-sided eight-wicket win over a hapless England on Friday.
Southee took seven for 33 in his nine overs as England collapsed to 123 all out in just 33.2 overs.
New Zealand captain McCullum’s rollicking 25-ball 77 with seven sixes and eight fours at the top of the order then saw the tournament co-hosts romp to victory in just 12.2 overs of their reply in Wellington.
When the umpires called for a dinner break with New Zealand needing just 12 more runs to win, jeers rang out around the packed 33,000 capacity Westpac Stadium.
But although the amount of cricket played was under half the scheduled 100 overs of a one-day international, the crowd certainly got their money’s worth.
Victory gave New Zealand, one of the tournament favourites, their third win in as many Pool A games while England were left with two defeats in two following a 111-run thrashing by Australia.
Sensing an easy win, McCullum launched a ferocious attack on the England bowling, hitting Stuart Broad for a six off the first ball he faced.
Fast bowler Steven Finn was not spared as McCullum hit six, four, four and six off the Middlesex paceman’s first four balls and then another six to bring up his fifty off just 18 balls.
McCullum held the previous record for the fastest World Cup fifty, off 20 balls against Canada at St Lucia in 2007.
Finn’s two wicketless overs cost a whopping 49 runs
Chis Woakes ended McCullum’s knock by bowling him off a bottom edge. South Africa’s AB de Villiers holds the record for the fastest-ever one-day international fifty, off just 16 balls, made against the West Indies last month.
Earlier it was Southee who left England clueless after Eoin Morgan won the toss and batted on a flat looking pitch.
Southee achieved the third-best figures in all World Cups and beat the previous best by a New Zealander in all ODIs, recorded by Shane Bond, now the team’s bowling coach, who took six for 19 against India at Bulawayo in 2005.
