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New Zealand may have been easy opponents for Australia in Test cricket the past 20 years, but they have always been a challenging foe in ODIs.
Quite incredibly the Kiwis have won only one of their past 28 Tests against Australia, a record stretching back to 1993.
Last summer they were thumped 4-0 home and away by a rookie-laden Australian side which had just lost six veterans to retirement.
In between those back-to-back Test series, however, New Zealand scored a 2-1 series win in a home ODI series. The Kiwis have been neck-and-neck with Australia in ODIs for many years now.
In the past 25 matches between the trans-Tasman rivals the ledger is almost square, with Australia winning 12 and New Zealand 10.
To illustrate just how close things have been, the winners of the last eight matches in order reads like this: Kiwis, Australia, Kiwis, Australia, Kiwis, Australia, Kiwis, Australia.
New Zealand won the most recent series, which ended in controversy when Mitch Marsh was given out in unusual circumstances in the third ODI. Marsh inside-edged a full delivery from Matt Henry onto his toe and the ball lobbed back to the bowler, who caught it and then made muted appeal. As Henry was walking back to his mark a replay on the big screen at the ground showed it was in fact a fair catch. As a result of this replay the umpires belatedly referred the incident to the third umpire, who adjudged Marsh out.
At the time Australia had been cruising at 4-153, just 94 runs shy of victory, with Marsh’s dismissal swinging the match to the home side. It was a lively finish to a fantastic series in which New Zealand exacted some revenge after being crushed in last year’s world cup final.
New Zealand’s meek performance on the biggest stage continued a trend, which is significant heading into the three-match ODI series starting on Sunday in Sydney. The Kiwis have a fine record at home against the Aussies but have won only five of their past 24 ODIs in Australia.
It must be noted, though, that the Kiwis have been deprived of 50-over cricket in Australia for years now, playing only one ODI there since February 2009.
Australia, of course, are coming off their first-ever 5-0 whitewash loss in ODI history at the hands of the Proteas in South Africa.
The Aussies were punished in that series for fielding a third-string pace attack, which was destroyed by the South African batsmen. No such kindness will be shown to New Zealand – Australia have picked a full-strength squad. Express quick Pat Cummins returns to partner gun-fast bowlers Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, giving Australia a skilful and intimidating pace attack.
Cummins was phenomenal in his last ODI series in England last year. Bowling at up to 153 kilometres per hour, he bullied the English top six and was comfortably the best bowler from either side, finishing the series with 12 wickets at 19. Not long after that Cummins again went down injured and only returned to action in the recent Matador Cup.
Using a remodelled action in that tournament Cummins regularly harried batsmen with his rare pace as he finished as the equal-top wicket taker, with 15 wickets at 18.
The one unexpected selection in the Australian squad is West Australian batting all-rounder Hilton Cartwright. The inclusion of the Zimbabwe-born Cartwright suggests to me the Australian selectors may be considering him for Test duty in the near future. Australia in the past have used the ODI team to trial players who are pushing for Test selection.
Cartwright’s career 50-over record – batting average of 26, bowling average of 39 – certainly does not justify his selection, and he had a very poor Matador Cup, averaging just 17 with the blade from six matches. In any case he is the fourth batting all-rounder in the squad behind Marsh, Glenn Maxwell and Travis Head, meaning he likely will get just one match at best.
New Zealand also have selected an inexperienced batting all-rounder from Zimbabwe in Colin de Grandhomme. The 30-year-old made an extraordinary start to his Test career in the past fortnight, taking nine wickets at an average of 12 to go with 98 runs at 33 in the two-Test series against Pakistan.
Unlike Australia, the Kiwis are missing several key players. These include star batsman Ross Taylor, who is undergoing eye surgery, strike bowlers Adam Milne and Mitchell McClenaghan, and elite all-rounder Corey Anderson.
But the Kiwis still boast plenty of quality in the form of batsmen Kane Williamson, Martin Guptill and Tom Latham, incisive pacemen Trent Boult, Tim Southee and Henry, and gifted all-rounders Jimmy Neesham and Mitchell Santner. They have the opportunity to force Australia to relinquish their long-held number one ODI ranking if they can win the series 3-0.
Australia ODI squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner, George Bailey, Hilton Cartwright, Pat Cummins, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Travis Head, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa.
Best XI:
1. David Warner
2. Aaron Finch
3. Steve Smith (c)
4. George Bailey
5. Mitch Marsh
6. Glenn Maxwell
7. Matthew Wade
8. James Faulkner
9. Mitchell Starc
10. Adam Zampa
11. Pat Cummins
New Zealand ODI sqaud: Kane Williamson (c), Todd Astle, Trent Boult, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Colin de Grandhomme, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Colin Munro, Jimmy Neesham, Henry Nicholls, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, BJ Watling
Best XI:
1. Martin Guptill
2. Tom Latham
3. Kane Williamson
4. Colin Munro
5. Jimmy Neesham
6. BJ Watling
7. Colin de Grandhomme
8. Mitchell Santner
9. Tim Southee
10. Matt Henry
11. Trent Boult