draw the match, although they lost the series 1–0. In the following year, Astle scored 106 against England in the 1st Test of the three–match series. He was involved in a partnership of 106 for the tenth wicket with Danny Morrison, a New Zealand record. His partnership with Morrison helped New Zealand secure a draw and prevented England from winning the test match. Successful opener in ODIs Astle was New Zealand's top run scorer in the 1997 Pepsi Independence Cup, a quadrangular tournament that also included India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. In the first match against Pakistan, he scored 117 and took a career-best figure of four wickets for 43 runs; New Zealand won the match by 22 runs while Astle was named Man of the match. He followed that with 92 against India, a match which New Zealand lost. Although, New Zealand did not progress to the finals, Astle ended up as the fourth-most prolific run scorer with 218 runs at an average of 72.66. He was equally successful with the ball as he captured seven wickets at an average of 15.00. Astle also passed Martin Crowe's record number of one-day hundreds for New Zealand (four) during the tournament. Astle's success as opener in ODIs continued throughout the season. In a home series against Zimbabwe, he was more consistent, scoring 351 runs including a century. He made scores exceeding 60 in four consecutive matches and was ultimately named "man of the series". Astle performed well in the subsequent series' such as the Singer-Akai Nidahas Trophy (1998) and the home series against South Africa accumulating close to 600 runs. 1999 World Cup failure Although, Astle was consistent till 1999, he failed in the 1999 Cricket World Cup that took place in England. He managed just 79 runs in nine matches at an average of 8.77. he scored well in the Test series against England including a century. At the end of the century, Astle established himself as one of the key players in New Zealand. At the end of 2000, New Zealand suffered heavy losses in the Test series against South Africa. Astle made a strong comeback in the ODI series against Pakistan, scoring 240 runs. In the final match of the series, he made 119 off 116 balls that contained 21 fours. During the innings he was involved in a record stand of 193 for the first wicket with