ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 Group A, Mumbai:
New Zealand 358-6 (50 overs) beat Canada 261-9 (50 overs) by 97 runsMatch scorecard

NZ beat Canada to make last eight

Brendon McCullum hit a century and Ross Taylor cracked 74 off 44 balls as New Zealand beat Canada by 97 runs to book a spot in the World Cup quarter-finals.

The Black Caps struck 122 from the last 10 overs to reach 358-6, with James Franklin blasting 31 from eight balls.

Canada lost two early wickets but Ashish Bagai (84) and Jimmy Hansra (70) helped them to a respectable 261-9.

The Group A contest was the first at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, the venue for the final on 2 April.

McCullum gave New Zealand a blistering start, reaching his fifty off 38 balls during a 96-run second wicket stand with Jesse Ryder.

It was decent play by the middle order again but we didn't push on and never looked like getting 360 Canada captain Ashish Bagai

McCullum was dismissed for 101 in the first over of the batting powerplay but there was no let up for the Canadians as Taylor picked up where he left off against Pakistan.

Standing in as captain for the injured Daniel Vettori, Taylor smashed four sixes off a single over from Hanvir Baidwan in a fourth-wicket partnership of 69 in 4.1 overs.

He was denied a second straight century by a superb catch from Hansra but Scott Styris (35), World Cup rookie Kane Williamson (34 not out) and Franklin continued the onslaught.

The last over from Rizwan Cheema stretched to eight balls and cost the Canadians 31 runs.

"Our game-plan is to try and keep wickets in hand," said Taylor. "Our strength is our lower-order batting and the power that we have."

Canada's reply got off to a disastrous start as Ruvindu Gunasekera and Zubin Surkari both edged Kyle Mills through to Taylor inside five overs before Hiral Patel was caught behind for 31.

But a stand of 125 between Bagai and Hansra restored some pride to the total, although they never looked likely to threaten New Zealand's score.

Both players suffered cramp in the sweltering heat, prompting Bagai to have a wild swing and get caught behind and Hansra to retire hurt.

Jacob Oram removed Cheema and Balaji Rao to finish with 3-47 off his 10 overs.

Khurram Chohan - alongside the returning Hansra - provided some late entertainment with a quickfire 22 but the result had long since been decided.

"It was decent play by the middle order again but we didn't push on and never looked like getting 360," said Begai.

"It was nice to get runs but again we came up on the losing side. I think we lost it in the first half of the game."

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