Basseterre (St Kitts), March 19 (IANS-CMC) Brad Hodge hit a superb century to help power Australia to a commanding 229-run victory over the Netherlands in their second Group A match of the 2007 Cricket World Cup at Warner Park on Sunday.
The relatively inexperienced Hodge, 32, became the fourth centurion of the tournament when he cracked an 89-ball 123 to spur Australia to an imposing 358 for five off their 50 overs.
The Netherlands, who were beaten by 213 runs by South Africa Friday, were dismissed for 129 off 26.5 overs at 3:50pm to exit the tournament, even though they still have to play fellow qualifiers Scotland in their last match Thursday.
In his second World Cup game and 15th ODI appearance, the right-handed Hodge struck seven sixes and eight fours as he shared in a massive record-breaking fourth-wicket stand of 204 with Michael Clarke, who hit and unbeaten 93 off 85 balls with six fours and three sixes, after the Aussies had slipped to 116 for three in the 21st over.
The previous best fourth-wicket stand was 168 between New Zealander Lee Germon and Chris Harris against Australia in Chennai, India in 1996.
Hodge and Clarke came together after two quick wickets had fallen on the same score, 116 - opener Adam Gilchrist, who gave the innings the early momentum with a 67-ball 57 with 11 fours, and captain Ricky Ponting (23).
Before Gilchrist and Ponting departed, Matthew Hayden (29) had perished to catch at point off a slower ball from medium-pacer Tim de Leede, who bowled well enough to take two for 40 from his 10 overs.
Gilchrist mistimed a drive to mid-on off de Leede, and Ponting - dropped off the last ball of the previous over - was caught and bowled by medium-pacer Ryan ten Doeschate.
Hodge and Clarke patiently repaired the damage as the Netherlands' bowlers contained them, but their fielders let them down as they dropped at least six catches.
Hodge began to break the shackles when he lashed medium-pacer Peter Borren for a straight six.
He stepped up a gear when he heaved off-spinner Adeel Raja into the stand over wide mid-wicket and repeated the shot next ball before slapping a full toss off the same bowler to long-on for four.
Hodge completed his ton off 82 balls with six fours and five sixes before he was bowled - played-on to Borren in the penultimate over of the innings.
Clarke, who played the supporting role, timed the ball with some fluent drives and cuts.
The Netherlands, despite a fairly good start, soon lost their way when left-arm seamer Nathan Bracken struck twice in the seventh over to remove Darron Reekers (25) and teenager Alexei Kervezee (0) within the space of three balls to leave 36 for two.
Speedster Shaun Taitt struck in the next over when key batsman Ryan ten Doeschate (1) was trapped leg-before-wicket on the back-foot.
Bas Zuiderent's needless run out for nine when he was sent back made matters worse as the fifth wicket fell at 46 after captain Luuk van Troost, went without scoring.
He was leg-before to veteran pacer Glenn McGrath, who also removed top-scorer Daan van Bunge (33) to capture his 50th wicket in CWC.
McGrath, who finished with two for 33 from eight overs, is now five wickets behind Pakistan's Wasim Akram's World Cup record.
Left-arm spinner Brad Hogg weaved his way through the lower-order capturing the last four wickets to finish with four for 27 in 4.5 overs.
The next Group A match is Tuesday between South Africa and Scotland.
SCOREBOARD
Match No.10, Australia vs. Netherlands, Group A, Warner Park, Basseterre, St. Kitts, March 18
Australia:
Adam Gilchrist c van Troost b de Leede 57
Matthew Hayden c Borren b de Leede 29
Ricky Ponting c & b ten Doeschate 23
Michael Clarke not out 93
Brad Hodge b Borren 123
Mike Hussey c sub b ten Doeschate 2
Shane Watson not out 12
Extras: (lb 9, w 8, nb 2) 19
Total: (for five wickets in 50 overs) 358
Fall of wickets: 1-73 (Hayden, 11.5 overs), 2-116 (Gilchrist, 19.4), 3-116 (Ponting, 20.1), 4-320 (Hodge, 47.3), 5-325 (Hussey, 48.4)
Bowling:
Mark Jonkman 6.1-1-35-0 (1nb)
Darron Reekers 6-1-48-0
Tim de Leede 10-1-40-2 (1w)
Ryan ten Doeschate 10-0-76-2 (4w)
Adeel Raja 7.5-0-61-0 (1nb)
Peter Borren 10-0-89-1(1w)
Netherlands:
Bas Zuiderent run out (Clarke/Gilchrist) 9
Darron Reekers c Clarke b Bracken 25
Alexei Kervezee lbw Bracken 0
Ryan ten Doeschate lbw b Tait 1
Luuk van Troost lbw b McGrath 0
Daan van Bunge not out 33
Tim de Leede c Hayden b Hogg 14
Peter Borren not out 5
Extras: (b 4, lb 1, w 5) 10
Total: (for six wickets in 19.3 overs) 97
Fall of wickets: 1-36 (Reekers, 6.3 overs), 2-36 (Kervezee, 6.5), 3-38 (ten Doeschate, 7.5), 4-40 (van Troost, 9.2), 5-46 (Zuiderent, 10.6), 6-87 (de Leede, 18.4)
Bowling:
Nathan Bracken 7-1-33-2
Shaun Tait 6-0-28-1 (5w)
Glenn McGrath 5.3-0-27-1
Brad Hogg 1-0-4-1
Result: Australia won by 229 runs
Man of the Match: Brad Hodge (Australia)
Umpires: Steve Bucknor (West Indies) and Anthony Hill (New Zealand)
Third umpire: Asoka de Silva (Sri Lanka)
Match referee: Javagal Srinath (India)