A rapid 104-run partnership between Glenn Maxwell and Steve Smith earned Australia victory over New Zealand in the third and final one-dayer in Brisbane yesterday.
In Australia’s last match before flying to the UK for the World Cup, which starts in 19 days from now, Maxwell (70 from 48 balls), Smith (91* from 108 balls) and Pat Cummins (4/32) all shone, as they have done throughout this series.
Cummins was Australia’s stand-out with the ball against an undermanned but very competitive New Zealand line-up, taking 7/68 across his two matches.
Smith played all three matches and was Australia’s leading scorer with 202 runs while being dismissed only once.
And Maxwell was brutal against the Kiwi bowlers, smashing 122 from 92 balls in his two matches at an incredible scoring rate of 7.95 runs per over.
Australia were wobbling at 4/137 when Maxwell joined Smith in the middle yesterday. The home side needed 150 runs at a required run rate of 6.5 per over to haul in New Zealand’s solid total of 286, which was built on a second successive ton by Will Young (111).
Smith was happy to play second fiddle as Maxwell cut loose from the start of his innings, smacking a series of boundaries in his first two overs at the crease.
The scorching rate at which Maxwell was scoring allowed Smith to protect his wicket and aim to bat out the full 50 overs.
This is the huge upside of having Maxwell in the ODI line-up. When he fails he chews up very few deliveries in doing so. When he succeeds, it is spectacular.
By the time Maxwell was out for 70, caught in the deep, Australia had the run chase well under control. In the end, bad light stopped play with Australia winning based on the Duckworth-Lewis system.
Glenn Maxwell blasted Australia to victory. (Mark Nolan/Getty Images)
While this series was a mere tune-up for the World Cup, with the Kiwis missing all of their ODI stars, there were plenty of positives for Australia.
Cummins and Maxwell both have been in brilliant ODI form this year and carried that on through this series.
Left-arm quick Jason Behrendorff was impressive, taking 3/56 from two matches at a miserly economy rate of just four runs per over.
Fellow WA quick Nathan Coulter-Nile also showed good signs, returning 3/86 for the series to go with a crucial knock of 34 from 36 balls that helped Australia win the first match.
That pair are battling for the third pace role in Australia’s starting XI for the World Cup, with Cummins and Starc surely locked in.
The shoulder injury to Jhye Richardson allowed Kane Richardson to come into Australia’s World Cup squad.
But the South Australian was underwhelming against New Zealand, taking 0/81 across two matches.
Richardson has been similarly uninspiring across his 20-match ODI career, during which he has averaged 33 with the ball, and offers no extra value with the bat. But the selectors clearly rate him.
As they do Smith, who was able to walk straight into the World Cup squad after his ball-tampering ban at the expense of the in-form Peter Handscomb.
So far, so good for Smith. Yes this series carried little weight, played under minimal pressure against an under-strength opponent.
Steve Smith made a smooth return to Australian duties after his ball-tampering ban. (AAP Image/Brendan Esposito)
But we already know that Smith is good. Very good.
What was unclear was whether he could regain touch in time for the World Cup. This series may well have helped him to do just that.
Smith was exposed to a variety of circumstances in this series.
First up he batted at five, a position foreign to him in this format.
In the second match he was handed another relatively unfamiliar task of having to be the chief aggressor in the closing overs of a 50-over innings. Smith hammered four sixes late in that innings to pass this test in emphatic fashion.
Then yesterday he returned to a more recognisable role as the anchor man at first drop and flourished once more.
After getting stuck in the mud in his comeback innings for Australia, with 22 from 43 balls, he found a much better rhythm across the next two matches, scoring at a good strike rate of 97.
It would be a boon for Australia if Smith can maintain such a pace of scoring in the World Cup, while anchoring their innings and turning over the strike nicely, as he typically does.
It was a forgettable series for his batting colleagues David Warner (41 runs at 14), Shaun Marsh (75 runs at 25 with a strike rate of 72), Usman Khawaja (83 runs at 28 with a strike rate of 72), and Marcus Stoinis (30 runs at 15).
But Australia will be buoyed by Smith’s form more than concerned by the lack of runs for that group.
Republican
Guest
.......Australian batting has long been ordinary and continues to rely on one or two, promising depth but delivery naught in this respect. Nothing to get excited about, especially as this was a NZ B side.
Rob M
Roar Rookie
Ryan, I think you're right. This is where Australia really needs to get in the heads of our batsmen about batting orders. Look, if we lose our first wicket in the 20th then the logical thing to do is send Smith in. That's not a slight on anyone. We bank Kwacka for the case of a collapse that might happen. He might still be the hero, so stay focussed. Meanwhile, play the optimal team game where Smith winds his innings up. This is the type of innovation we can actually bring to the game - and which might win us the cup.
danno
Guest
Stoinis form a worry with bat and ball, hopefully he comes good at WC. NCN could be handy at 8 and is a gun outfielder.
Josh H
Roar Rookie
Agreed. People tend to forget that batting at 3 is different in ODIs and Tests. In one-day cricket you can afford to go a little slower opening the batting, but need to adapt to the tempo of the innings in the middle order. Warner can set the tone wherever he bats. If Khawaja has to play (which he should because he's our 3rd best bat), opening is his best position.
Kopa Shamsu
Guest
So here is the stats-- You decide to break finch- khawaja combo Warner made 39 in 1st match getting dropped 2 times. Single digit in other 2 match which clearly shows the difference between ipl attack & international attack. Khawaja made a single digit & somewhat respectable scores albeit slow in other 2 match. Both of them virtually opened because there was no significant contribution from opening pair throughout. Out of 4 batsman of top 5 who played all matches i guess warner & s marsh are 2 batsman who had no 50 against a NZ A team. Yesterday zampa went for 8+ rpo, which raises question on the possibility of getting 10 overs out of maxi in England on flat road with short boundaries. Stoinis didn't give any sign of improvement. So i am in favor of playing 5 bowlers with at least 2 of them can easily be categorized as bowling all rounder-- Cummins & NCN
Neel
Roar Guru
Smith hitting form at the right time. Maxwell the same. Concerns over Marsh possibly?
BurgyGreen
Guest
Fantastic to see Smith back in touch, I was quite worried about his form. Really hoping Maxi carries this form into the World Cup, he’ll be devastating if we set a good platform for him.
BurgyGreen
Guest
Sadly he’s set for shoulder surgery straight after this series and will be out for the rest of the year. Apparently he wasn’t able to throw in the field in these games.
Tanmoy Kar
Guest
Will Young should be included in the Kiwi World Cup squad.
DingoGray
Roar Guru
Coming into this warm up series I was more worried about Smith than Warner. Doesn't take Smudge long to fix that. We tracking pretty well. Finch looks to be in one of those flat patches he's reowned for. Let's hope he tracks along like this. Would even be ok for the 1st couple of WC games, because he will then explode like he always does at the back end. Still have massive concerns with Starc. I don't think he should be in our Best XI World Cup time. He just doesn't have the aura of his past about him.
AREH
Roar Guru
I'm just not sure Khawaja can accelerate as well there as is the case opening. Especially considering he deals largely in boundaries at the top, with the field up and a new, hard ball. Sure, he might still come to the middle in the first over, but what if he doesn't until the 20th?
Rob M
Roar Rookie
1 Finch - complements Warner 2 Warner - he has to open to set the tone 3 Khawaja - good anchor, can accelerate 4 Smith - great anchor, can accelerate 5 Maxwell - give him time to really wind up 6 Carey - good scrambler of late runs, can anchor in a disaster 7 Stoinis - big late hitting. Weakest bowler, but IPL has taught him a few lessons 8 Cummins - best bowler 9 Starc - fastest 10 Zampa - smart, under-rated 11 Behrendorff - ditto Coulter-Nile backup fast bowler Marsh backup batsman GOAT backup spinner Richardson backup to backup fast bowler. It's a good team. But there are 3 or 4 others with as good or better. I think our fielding could be worth a few close matches. We should get into top 4. Then a couple of coin-toss games. Good luck boys.
Pumping Dougie
Roar Guru
We can't return to the days of relying on Smith, Warner and Maxi for runs. The other batsmen must stand-up if we're to be any chance. Great to see Starc back in form - makes a formidable fast bowler pairing with Cummins. I still like the idea of making Warner a middle order batsman to give us more firepower in the back-end of an innings; surprising they didn't trial this against NZ.
Graham
Guest
Its concerning how many batters showed patchy form! Good that smith wasn't one of them