Australia’s calamitous summer continues tomorrow in Sydney when they host the Black Caps in the first match of the Chappell Hadlee series.
The Australians will look to put behind them a dour 2016 that has seen them be destroyed by Sri Lanka, embarrassed by South Africa twice, and seen several selection personnel and players get discarded.
Having restored some pride in the baggy green in the Adelaide third test dead rubber against South Africa, the Australians head to Sydney to ease media pressure and quash internal discontent.
The Black Caps on the other hand will be buoyant after disposing of Pakistan on home soil in the recent test series. But in order to retain the Chappell-Hadlee trophy they’ll need to win in Australia – something they have’t done in an awfully long time.
Both teams will need to adjust from red ball (pink ball in Australia’s case) to white ball quickly to grab the head start in the three game series.
The Last Time These Two Met
New Zealand hold the Chappell-Hadlee trophy after last year’s 2-1 series win. After dominating to win game one in Auckland by 159 runs, Australia drew level in Wellington, before the Black Caps closed out the series at Seddon Park. The win in Hamilton was especially impressive, built on the back of the fabulous spin bowling and fielding.
But the prospect of a trip to Australia is daunting for the Black Caps. Nine of their squad haven’t played a one-dayer in Australia, and those that have will hold scars from the 2015 World Cup final. The only silver lining and fact that will give NZ some hope is the fact that Australia got thrashed 5-0 by South Africa in an away ODI series recently and have selected a similar group of players for this series.
Interestingly, since the start of 2015 Australia have played 16 ODIs at home. They won 15 of those in a row.
The Teams
Australia (from):
David Warner, Aaron Finch, Steven Smith (capt), George Bailey, Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Marsh, Matthew Wade (wk), James Faulkner, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Adam Zampa.
Australia have picked a team pretty similar to the one that travelled to South Africa recently and were beaten 5-0. However, this time around they have not rested Starc or Hazlewood.
Expect Glenn Maxwell to miss out after he made some disparaging comments about fellow squad member and his Victorian captain, Matthew Wade.
New Zealand (likely):
Kane Williamson (capt), 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 (wk).
BJ Watling gets a second chance at a ODI career – Luke Ronchi has been dropped. Also in that category is Corey Anderson, Doug Bracewell, Ish Sodhi and Anton Devcich. Ross Taylor is unavailable.
Look out for speedster Lockie Ferguson. He’s been tearing domestic sides apart in New Zealand, regularly touching 150km/h.
The Key Players
Australia
Mitchell Starc – This guy does crazy things with the white cricket ball. Admittedly he does impressive things with the red ball too, but with the white ball he is quick and dangerous. The extra swing he generates will have Guptill and Latham worried and he could completely turn games in his first spell.
New Zealand
Kane Williamson – The New Zealand captain hasn’t scored the amount of runs he would have liked recently. He was quiet in India and had only one half century in the test series against Pakistan. But he’ll have fond memories of Australia after dominating the test series there last year. Williamson will look to spend as much time at the crease as possible; avoiding risk and allowing the rest of the team to build the innings around him, especially big hitters like de Grandhomme and Munro.
The Match Odds
Australia – $1.40 at Palmerbet.
New Zealand – $3.30 at Betfair.
The Prediction
New Zealand will need to scrap their little hearts out all game and rely on the little 1%ers (fielding and so on) to get the better of Australia here. We can’t see it happening given the team is so inexperienced. We’re also worried the likes of Latham, Watling and Nicholls are just not powerful enough to carry New Zealand to a big total. Australia to win.
The Best Bets
Colin Munro is super inconsistent but is starting to feel more comfortable at the top level after playing in the World Twenty20 and the IPL. He loves the ball coming on to the bat and could be dangerous if he gets a start. He’s paying $6 to top score at Bet365, which looks pretty good money.
Steve Smith does one-daters pretty well. There was a period against India last year where he was impossible to dismiss. Look for him to top score at odds of $4.33.
