Australia had to defeat the West Indies in their final match to ensure they had a place in Group B at the expense of New Zealand or the West Indies. They did, in fact, defeat the West Indies at Edgbaston, but deliberately slowed down their run rate when they knew they had secured the win, in an attempt to lift the West Indian run rate above that which they felt New Zealand could achieve, even if the Kiwis defeatScotland.

This approach would have frustrated and annoyed the Kiwis because the spirit of fair play was breached -- surely when a team plays cricket you want to win and win well. It brings to mind the infamous `under-arm incident' which took place on February 1 1981, at the MCG, when the Australian captain, Greg Chappell instructed his younger brother Trevor, to bowl the last ball of the match under-arm, to deny New Zealand a chance of hitting a six to tie the match.

Whilst the rules were there to be used to the teams' advantage, the Australians took the rules to the brink. The fact that the Australians publicly stated what they had done in their World Cup encounter against the West Indies, has not endeared themselves to the public life in the United Kingdom, where Australian sportsmen have few friends. If they had intended to use those tactics, it would have been better not to have declared so, publicly.

Tactics became very important, but maybe the future World Cup rules will need to be addressed toprevent this from happening again.

For New Zealand to qualify, they knew exactly what they had to do. New Zealand needed to be very positive in their approach and go all out to win the match. They made some necessary team changes Matthew Horne who has been short of runs was replaced by left-arm spinner Matthew Hart, to open the batting and Carl Bulfin replaced the dependable Gavin Larsen to add fire-power to the bowling and to get wickets. Neither team tactic worked as Hart scored a duck and Bulfin was the most expensive of the bowlers. The selectors will need to reconsider their next options.

The other New Zealand bowlers did a magnificent job in dismissing Scotland for 121 in 42.1 overs, with Man of the Match Geoff Allott, bowling superbly again and captured 3-15 to become the leading wicket-taker in the tournament with 15 wickets.

Dion Nash and Chris Harris, with their nagging line and length, were also impressive and the fielding was very alert and full of purpose.

Set 122 to win in under 22overs was the target and whilst New Zealand lost two early wickets, the experience of Roger Twose (54 not out in 49 balls) and Chris Cairns saw them home with three overs to spare. Twose played some bold shots and rode his luck well as fortune favoured the brave. It was a sweet moment for the Kiwis because the mission was accomplished in some style when the odds were stacked against them, especially with the added pressure of run rates constantly in the back of their minds.

The winning or losing margin for New Zealand to qualify for the next stage was so close. It all came down to a technicality, a better net run rate than the West Indies. Whilst the West Indies will be `gutted' by the Kiwis' success, it was the same for England, who also disappear from the competition, as India also did what they had to do, and that was to win their final in a pressure situation.

New Zealand will now be looking forward to continue their battles against South Africa, Zimbabwe and Indian and those two valuable pointscarried through to the next stage gives New Zealand a chance of reaching the semi-finals.