# 2001–02 Australia Tri-Nation Series

The 2001–02 Australia Tri-Nation Series (more commonly as the 2001–02 VB Series) was a One Day International (ODI) cricket tri-series (14 matches) where Australia played host to New Zealand and South Africa. After drawing with New Zealand and defeating South Africa in the preceding Test series, Australia went into the tournament as favourites; however, they failed to reach the final; and captain Steve Waugh was consequently sacked as ODI captain, replaced by Ricky Ponting.
South African Jonty Rhodes, was the leading run-scorer for the series, while New Zealander Shane Bond was the leading wicket-taker.

## Squads

Squads :
| Australia | New Zealand | South Africa |
| Steve Waugh (c) | Stephen Fleming (c) | Shaun Pollock (c) |
| Adam Gilchrist (wk) | Adam Parore (wk) | Mark Boucher (wk) |
| Ryan Campbell (wk) | Andre Adams | Nicky Boje |
| Michael Bevan | Nathan Astle | Boeta Dippenaar |
| Andy Bichel | Shane Bond | Allan Donald |
| Jason Gillespie | Chris Cairns | Steve Elworthy |
| Ian Harvey | James Franklin | Herschelle Gibbs |
| Matthew Hayden | Chris Harris | Jacques Kallis |
| Brett Lee | Brendon McCullum | Justin Kemp |
| Darren Lehmann | Craig McMillan | Gary Kirsten |
| Glenn McGrath | Dion Nash | Lance Klusener |
| Damien Martyn | Mark Richardson | Charl Langeveldt |
| Ricky Ponting | Scott Styris | Neil McKenzie |
| Andrew Symonds | Daniel Vettori | Makhaya Ntini |
| Shane Warne | Lou Vincent | Justin Ontong |
| Mark Waugh | – | Jonty Rhodes |
| Brad Williams | – | – |

## Points Table

| Pos | Team | P | W | L | NR/T | BP | Points | NRR |
| 1 | South Africa | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 18 | -0.040 |
| 2 | New Zealand | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 17 | -0.154 |
| 3 | Australia | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 17 | +0.186 |

### Points system

* Won = 4 points
* Lost = 0 points
* Tie or No result = 2 points
* BP = Bonus points.
    1 bonus point was awarded to the winning team if their run rate was 1.25x than that of the losing team.
* Standard net run rate rules applied.
* In the event of the teams finishing on equal points, the right to play in the final match (or series) will be determined as follows:
    the team with the most number of wins
    the team with the most number of wins over the other team(s).
    the team with the highest number of bonus points
    the team with the highest net run rate.

## Group stage
### 1st match: Australia v New Zealand

* 11 January 2002 14:30 (D/N) (scorecard)
| New Zealand 8/199 (50 overs) | v | Australia 176 (42 overs) |
| Harris 63* (92) Lee 3–43 (10 overs) | | Ponting 45 (54) Bond 3–53 (10 overs) |
* New Zealand won by 23 runs Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne Umpires: Darrell Hair (AUS) & Bob Parry (Aus) Player of the match: Chris Harris

### 2nd match: Australia v South Africa

* 13 January 2002 14:30 (D/N) (scorecard)
| Australia 198 (48.5 overs) | v | South Africa 6/199 (48.3 overs) |
| S.Waugh 62 (86) Pollock 3–25 (9 overs) | | Rhodes 43* (101) Gillespie 2–28 (10 overs) |
* South Africa won by 4 wickets Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne Umpires: Steve Davis (AUS) & Simon Taufel (Aus) Player of the match: Shaun Pollock

### 3rd match: New Zealand v South Africa

* 15 January 2002 10:00 (scorecard)
| South Africa 7/257 (50 overs) | v | New Zealand 9/231 (50 overs) |
| Gary Kirsten 97 (118) Daniel Vettori 2–37 (10 overs) | | Stephen Fleming 85 (112) Allan Donald 3–40 (10 overs) |
* South Africa won by 26 runs Bellerive Oval, Hobart Umpires: Steve Davis (AUS) & Daryl Harper (Aus) Player of the match: Gary Kirsten

### 4th match: Australia v New Zealand

* 17 January 2002 14:30 (D/N) (scorecard)
| New Zealand 9/235 (50 overs) | v | Australia 212 (47.2 overs) |
| Harris 42* (43) Harvey 2–40 (10 overs) | | Bevan 66 (98) Harris 3–37 (8.2 overs) |
* New Zealand won by 23 runs Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney Umpires: Bob Parry (AUS) & Simon Taufel (Aus) Player of the match: Chris Harris

### 5th match: New Zealand v South Africa

* 19 January 2002 13:30 (D/N) (scorecard)
| South Africa 241 (48.3 overs) | v | New Zealand 6/244 (49.1 overs) |
| Kallis 65 (68) Bond 4–37 (9.3 overs) | | Cairns 102* (99) Pollock 2–29 (9.1 overs) |
* New Zealand won by 4 wickets The Gabba, Brisbane Umpires: Steve Davis (AUS) & Darrell Hair (Aus) Player of the match: Chris Cairns

### 6th match: Australia v South Africa

* 20 January 2002 13:30 (D/N) (scorecard)
| Australia 4/241 (50 overs) | v | South Africa 214 (48.4 overs) |
| Martyn 104* (121) Elworthy 2–53 (10 overs) | | McKenzie 68 (85) McGrath 4–30 (9.4 overs) |
* Australia won by 27 runs The Gabba, Brisbane Umpires: Daryl Harper (AUS) & Simon Taufel (Aus) Player of the match: Damien Martyn

### 7th match: Australia v South Africa

* 22 January 2002 14:30 (D/N) (scorecard)
| South Africa 106 (38.3 overs) | v | Australia 2/107 (18.4 overs) |
| Kirsten 44 (77) Bichel 5–19 (6.3 overs) | | M.Waugh 55* (62) Klusener 1–28 (2.4 overs) |
* Australia won by 8 wickets Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney Umpires: Darrell Hair (AUS) & Daryl Harper (AUS) Player of the match: Andy Bichel

### 8th match: Australia v New Zealand

* 26 January 2002 14:00 (D/N) (scorecard)
| New Zealand 5/242 (50 overs) | v | Australia 165 (50 overs) |
| Astle 95 (135) McGrath 2–36 (10 overs) | | Bevan 45 (62) Bond 5–25 (9.2 overs) |
* New Zealand won by 77 runs Adelaide Oval, Adelaide Umpires: Steve Davis (AUS) & Simon Taufel (Aus) Player of the match: Shane Bond

### 9th match: New Zealand v South Africa

* 27 January 2002 14:00 (D/N) (scorecard)
| South Africa 5/253 (50 overs) | v | New Zealand 160 (50 overs) |
| Gibbs 89 (132) Cairns 2–69 (10 overs) | | Fleming 43 (80) Boje 4–31 (10 overs) |
* South Africa won by 93 runs Adelaide Oval, Adelaide Umpires: Daryl Harper (AUS) & Bob Parry (Aus) Player of the match: Mark Boucher

### 10th Match: Australia v New Zealand

* 29 January 2002 14:30 (D/N) (scorecard)
| New Zealand 8/245 (50 overs) | v | Australia 8/248 (49.3 overs) |
| Cairns 55 (63) McGrath 2–41 (10 overs) | | Bevan 102* (95) Bond 4–38 (9.3 overs) |
* Australia won by 2 wickets Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne Umpires: Darrell Hair (AUS) & Simon Taufel (Aus) Player of the match: Michael Bevan

### 11th Match: New Zealand v South Africa

* 1 February 2002 10:30 (scorecard)
| South Africa 5/270 (50 overs) | v | New Zealand 8/203 (50 overs) |
| Rhodes 107* (135) Nash 3–37 (10 overs) | | McMillan 46 (54) Ntini 2–23 (10 overs) |
* South Africa won by 67 runs WACA Ground, Perth Umpires: Darrell Hair (AUS) & Daryl Harper (Aus) Player of the match: Jonty Rhodes

### 12th Match: Australia v South Africa

* 3 February 2002 10:30 (scorecard)
| Australia 7/283 (50 overs) | v | South Africa 5/250 (50 overs) |
| Lee 51* (36) Boje 2–38 (10 overs) | | Kallis 104* (120) Lehmann 2–28 (5 overs) |
* Australia won by 33 runs WACA Ground, Perth Umpires: Steve Davis (AUS) & Bob Parry (Aus) Player of the match: Jacques Kallis
Australia needed a bonus point against South Africa to qualify for the finals. They lost the toss and were sent in to bat; however, they struggled early and were 7/195 in the 40th over, before Brett Lee scored 51 from 36 balls. Australia finished on 7/283, consequently needing to restrict South Africa to less than 227 to gain the bonus point. Nevertheless, it was not to be for the Australians, as Jacques Kallis compiled an unbeaten century (104), helping South Africa reach 227 with 16 balls to spare. They eventually finished on 250, and despite an Australian victory, the local team were out of the competition, upsetting many home fans. Australian captain Steve Waugh wrote:
   A lot has been said about the rights and wrongs of the bonus point system that ended up separating the three teams on the final ladder for the VB series, but much of it ignores one simple reason behind our early exit from the tournament. We were slow out of the blocks and we paid for it ... with the short time between the end of the Test series and the start of the VB series, there was no chance for a lead-up game, our opponents enjoyed, and without such a rehearsal we lacked the sharpness required at the top level in our first three games, we found ourselves under the pump.

## Finals
### 1st final

* 6 February 2002 (scorecard)
| New Zealand 190 (47.5 overs) | v | South Africa 2/191 (45.1 overs) |
| McMillan 73 (99) Ntini 5–31 (10 overs) | | Dippenaar 79* (107) Cairns 1–27 (8 overs) |
* South Africa won by 8 wickets Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne Umpires: Daryl Harper (AUS) & Simon Taufel (Aus) Player of the match: Makhaya Ntini
South Africa continued their good form against New Zealand with a comfortable eight wicket win, set up by a strong bowling performance from Makhaya Ntini. Despite winning the toss and opting to bat, New Zealand lost both of their openers early, to Ntini. However a 109 wicket partnership between Stephen Fleming and Craig McMillan put the innings back on track. Once Lance Klusener dismissed the New Zealand captain for 50, they began to lose wickets regularly, with only Andre Adams making it into double figures. Ntini took the wicket of Adams to claim his second ODI five wicket haul and the innings was soon closed when Shane Bond was run-out by Jonty Rhodes. South Africa in reply lost their second wicket with 52 runs on the board but Boeta Dippenaar, who was dropped in the gully by Fleming on 40, and Jacques Kallis, guided South Africa to victory with 29 balls remaining.

### 2nd final

* 8 February 2002 (scorecard)
| New Zealand 175 (41.1 overs) | v | South Africa 4/173 (38.1 overs) |
| Cairns 57 (73) Kallis 3–23 (5.1 overs) | | Rhodes 61* (68) Adams 2–33 (8 overs) |
* South Africa won by 6 wickets (D/L method) Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney Umpires: Steve Davis (AUS) & Simon Taufel (Aus) Player of the match: Jonty Rhodes
* Rain interrupted the New Zealand innings after 16.1 overs which reduced the match to 46 overs each
Having won the toss again, Stephen Fleming elected to bat first but once more New Zealand failed to produce a competitive total and South Africa chased it down comfortably. The New Zealanders, needing a win to force the finals series into a third match, had started their innings slowly and it wasn't until the fifth over that they scored their maiden run. An entertaining run a ball 43 from Lou Vincent got the team back on track but after he fell and Jacques Kallis dismissed Craig McMillan, New Zealand were struggling at 5/72. Although a 75 run partnership from Chris Cairns and Chris Harris looked like giving New Zealand a chance of posting over 200, the tail fell cheaply due to good bowling from Allan Donald. During their innings, the match had been reduced to 46 overs due to rain and the South Africans were thus chasing a revised target of 172. Herschelle Gibbs, despite losing his opening partner Gary Kirsten for just two runs, scored an aggressive 46 to give the South Africans a good platform. Jonty Rhodes brought up his half century and accumulated 16 runs in the 38th over, bowled by Andre Adams, before a pull to the boundary by Mark Boucher off Daniel Vettori the following over gave South Africa the title.

## Aftermath

Australian cricket team captain Steve Waugh was dropped from the One Day International team after the conclusion of the series, and the captaincy role was assumed by Ricky Ponting. However, he continued the Test captaincy until his International retirement in January 2004, with Ponting becoming Australia's full-time captain.