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Australia recover from slow start to hammer New Zealand at Lord's

29th June, 2019
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29th June, 2019
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Australia have landed a killer blow in a potential preview of the Cricket World Cup semi-finals at Lord’s, smacking New Zealand by 86 runs.

While the final margin of victory sounds impressive, it was anything but all smooth sailing for Australia, who found themselves in plenty of strife early on after winning the toss and electing to bat first.

Their usual prolific opening combination of David Warner and Aaron Finch were both removed in the early going of the game, with Australia sitting at 2 for 38 in the tenth over.

While the bowling was tight and the decision to open with the economically consistent Colin de Grandhomme in replacement of Matt Henry worked wonders for the Black Caps, there were also some dumb shots from the Aussies.

When Steve Smith was caught out hooking in what was a superb Martin Guptill catch, then followed shortly afterwards by Glenn Maxwell (1) and Marcus Stoinis (21), the Aussies were in all sorts, and left reeling at just 5 for 90.

New Zealand’s tactics, up until that point, had been fantastic, however, with Alex Carey joining the resilient Usman Khawaja at the crease, the pair set about rebuilding the innings, and were helped as Kane Williamson brought himself on to bowl and ignored strike weapons Boult and Lockie Ferguson for 20 overs.

Australia were able to get the runs flowing again, and at one point looked on track for something bordering on 260, however, Carey would get out at 6 for 199 in the 43rd, making 71 off 72 in one of the better ODI innings you’re likely to see in a situation like that.

With Khawaja struggling to put the foot down, a healthy cameo from Pat Cummins, who finished with 23 off 19 ensured the Aussies got somewhere respectable, however a Trent Boult hat-trick, including the wicket of Khawaja, who fell for a well-made 88, ensured the momentum was with New Zealand in the second innings.

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And when Martin Guptill and new opening partner Henry Nicholls came out, it looked exactly that way. The Australian bowlers struggled to get the ball to swing, and Guptill was for some time going a run per ball.

However, they failed to capitalise. The hardest part of the game on this pitch was always starting runs and scoring from the outset, so with the strength of Australia’s attack, it was hardly a surprise to see wickets starting to fall in bunches, thanks to a strange game plan from the Black Caps.

No one showed any intent to take Australia’s army of part time bowlers (Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith and Aaron Finch all bowled) out of the attack, and the run rate eventually crept up to the point where it wasn’t going to be even close to winnable.

The shots played by Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor in particular from their two most experienced players, speak of a nation struggling with expectation and pressure.

Mitchell Starc was the star of the show with five wickets, but all of the Aussie bowlers chipped in, including Jason Behrendorff, who was really strong up front again.

New Zealand now get ready to face England on Wednesday in their final group game, while Australia get a whole week off before taking on South Africa next Saturday in the day-night fixture.

Match summary

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Australia: 9/243 (50) (Usman Khawaja 88, Alex Carey 71, Trent Boult 4/51) defeat New Zealand: 10/157 (43.4) (Kane Williamson 40, Mitchell Starc 5/26) by 86 runs

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