New Zealand cemented their status as genuine contenders for the World Cup with a dominating 98-run win over Sri Lanka in Saturday's opening match in Christchurch as Australia's Aaron Finch scored the 2015 tournament's first century.
New Zealand's captain Brendon McCullum celebrates victory during their ICC Cricket World Cup Pool A match against Sri Lanka, at Hagley Oval in Christchurch, on February 14, 2015
Co-hosts New Zealand piled up 331 for six after losing the toss at a chilly Hagley Oval, with skipper Brendon McCullum (65) and Kane Williamson (57) laying the foundations for a big score before all-rounder Corey Anderson smashed 75 off just 46 balls at the finish.
The most astonishing feature of the innings, however, was that Sri Lanka spearhead Lasith Malinga, went wicketless in an expensive 10-over spell costing 84 runs.
Sri Lanka, the 1996 champions and runners-up in the last two World Cups, were well-placed at 124 for one but their innings fell away, with all-rounder Anderson taking two for 18.
New Zealand had beaten Sri Lanka 4-2 in a preceding home one-day international series and McCullum said: "It was a really good performance. We've waited such a long time for this match and you hope the form you had leading into it will stack up."
A disappointed Sri Lankan skipper Angelo Mathews said: "They probably scored 30 or 40 runs too many and then we needed someone in our top four to get a hundred. But we are not going to panic, we still have five group games left."
One highlight for Sri Lanka was that Kumar Sangakkara scored the 12 runs he needed to go into second place on the list of highest one-day international run-scorers, passing Australia's Ricky Ponting, who made 13,704 runs before he retired.
India legend Sachin Tendulkar tops the list for most ODI runs with a mammoth 18,426.
In Melbourne, Finch felt the love of a near-capacity 90,000 home crowd as the Victorian marked Valentine's Day with the first hundred of the tournament with a superb 135 against arch-rivals England as Australia piled up 342 for nine.
Finch, dropped on nought by Chris Woakes off James Anderson, helped Australia off to a blistering start before Stuart Broad dragged England back into the match with two wickets in two balls to remove David Warner and Shane Watson.
- Challenging total -
Australia were 70 for three at one stage.
However, Finch, and skipper George Bailey (55), leading the side in place of the injured Michael Clarke, engineered a recovery in a fourth-wicket stand of 146.
Finch's blistering 126-ball innings, featuring 12 fours and three sixes, ended when, going for a needless single, he was run out by England captain Eoin Morgan's direct hit from mid-off.
Glenn Maxwell piled on the agony for England with a quickfire 66.
"It was nice to get a couple out of the middle and build on a good start," said Maxwell. "I think 342 is going to be a challenging total."
Steven Finn finished the innings with the first hat-trick of the World Cup in the last over to dismiss Brad Haddin (31), Maxwell and Mitch Johnson (nought).
But Finn's haul could not disguise the fact that England bowled too short too often.
England great Ian Botham, commentating for Fox Sports, slammed the side's approach by saying: "You are allowed to bowl a yorker -- it's not illegal in the game of cricket."
Australia are in search of a fifth World Cup crown but defending champions India are the only team to have won the tournament on their own turf in the competition's 40-year history.
If Australia-England represents cricket's oldest international rivalry, India-Pakistan is its fiercest and the two Asian nations will open their World Cup against one another in Adelaide on Sunday in a game where tickets sold out within 20 minutes.
Pakistan, who won their only World Cup in Australia in 1992, have endured a chaotic build-up with match-winning spinner Saeed Ajmal suspended because of a suspect action and eight players already fined for breaking a curfew.
South Africa, looking to end their World Cup heartache, launch their quest for the title against Zimbabwe in an all-African clash at Hamilton's Seddon Park on Sunday.