World Cup 2015: Tim Southee comes up with 7/33, Brendon McCullum hits fastest 50

By Will Macpherson

The writing should have been on the wall. Earlier on Friday, England’s Women played New Zealand Women at Cobham Oval in Whangarei, some 800km north of Wellington.

Having won the toss and chosen to bat under blue skies, they were bowled out for 124, and the White Ferns chased it down with ease. That was a Twenty20 International, and a hugely disappointing result for Charlotte Edwards and her team.

Few can possibly have predicted the fresh hell their male counterparts would inflict on their sleeping fans a few hours later on Friday in one of the most onesided matches you’ll ever see; a veritable execution, a slaughter. Like the Ladies, their captain won the toss under blue skies. But they couldn’t even manage 124. A victory by eight wickets was the result, but this was so much more than that. This was England’s lowest total at the World Cup since they were bowled out for 103 at the Oval in South Africa in May 1999. The half-time break was taken after 44 overs and with the home side requiring 12 for victory. At the end, the Duckworth-Lewis par score was 31.

The Westpac’s floodlights hadn’t even been switched on. Those Wellingtonians planning a post-work trip to the cricket to start their weekend were left disappointed, as only the swiftest nine-tofiver could have made it to the ground in time to see any pre-tea action.

For all England’s abjectness with the bat, the ball – Brendon McCullum didn’t give them a chance to field – New Zealand were an utter treat. The Cake Tin – the stands a sea of the black of the home side, the grey of their 1992 counterparts (a fine vintage who look likely to be bettered this time round), and the orange of their ball-catching sponsors, Tui – was a cauldron drenched in perfect sunlight. From on high in the stands, behind the bowler’s arm, to one side the view is of velvety conifer covered hills dotted with white houses that surely boast the most spectacular of views; on the other a cruise ship sat in the harbour.

The Windy City felt like the Caribbean. And the local boys played with the aggression, f lair and brutality of Caribbean sides of yore, too. New Zealand’s cricketers aren’t natural favourites; that’s the domain of their rugby players. Their wonderful recent form has seen a rise in expectation.

Even before today, only the most passé of cricket fans was calling them dark horses; the Australians have been backing them and know that their clash at Eden Park a week tomorrow is the pair’s only crucial – and perhaps only competitive – clash in the pool stages. But the Kiwi press have remained cautious, even as public opinion has ramped up. For all their recent wonders in the Test arena and undoubted quality, their recent series romps have only come against an underpowered Sri Lanka and Pakistan. This, though, was the day they proved they are the real deal.

Tim Southee was Man of the Match, and rightly so. His 7 for 33 were the best bowling figures in ODIs by a man from his country and the third best in World Cups. That he did it on a pitch that looked set for runs and as the only man who extracted any real swing showed what a skilled operator he has become.

Is there any bowler in the world game currently using the crease better? Is there anyone you’d back to hit the top of off with greater consistency? ODI cricket has a wonderfully cruel way of punishing sides who bat first and perform abysmally: it makes them wait to eat.

A 10-minute turnaround and England were in the field, no mercy for the miserable. Southee was glorious, but Brendon McCullum was the architect and final executioner.

In the field he attacked relentlessly; three slips at the start, four by the end and displaying a remarkable ability to scent blood.

- Wisden India