New Zealand vs. Australia, 1st ODI: Date, Time, Live Stream, TV Info, Preview
New Zealand will seek to avenge last year's World Cup final defeat when they lock horns with Australia in Auckland on Wednesday...and it promises to be a cracker.
For the most part, both sides have enjoyed rampant summers and are clearly in form and high in confidence.
But who will strike the first blow in this three-match one-day international series? Let's take a look at how the two sides are shaping up ahead of this mouth-watering clash.
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Date: Wednesday, 3 February
Time: 2 p.m. local (1 a.m. GMT)
Venue: Eden Park, Auckland, New Zealand
Live Stream and TV Info: Sky Sports (UK), Sky Sport (New Zealand), TenSports (Pakistan), Fox Sports (Australia), Neo Cricket/Star Sports (India), Ten Sports (UAE), NowTV (subscription required).
Weather: According to the BBC Weather a mix of clouds and sunshine should mean an uninterrupted game is in store with highs of 24 degrees Celsius expected.
Overview
New Zealand's series with Sri Lanka and Pakistan, and Australia's tussles with the West Indies and India have seemed like the quiet before the storm. And the hurricane is about to strike land at Eden Park on Wednesday.
Both sides have enjoyed bountiful summers (although Australia’s shock whitewashing by India in the Twenty20 series was a reminder that the current ODI world champions are human) and match up well on paper.
Star-studded batting lineups, prolific individual scorers, players throughout the order capable of clearing the ropes at any time, talented and well-stocked seam attacks, and grey areas in the spin department.
However, one major difference between the sides is their preparation for this series.
While New Zealand have been playing non-stop for the last couple of months in home conditions on typically seam-friendly surfaces, Australia will go into this first ODI without even playing a warm-up game.
True, the Aussies have been playing relentlessly themselves, but most of their games have been on their own utopian batting tracks—far from the potentially green tops on offer on the east side of the Tasman Sea.
Sure, a number of players such as David Warner and Steven Smith missed the end of the India series to spend more time acclimatising, but the preparations still seem inadequate.
The power in the Australian batting lineup certainly seems adequate, though. So much so that even the red-hot Usman Khawaja has been unable to force his way into the squad, per Andrew Wu of the Sydney Morning Herald.
Additionally, despite the absence of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood returns from a break to lead a pace attack boasting hungry up-and-coming players like Scott Boland and late-blooming professionals like John Hastings.
The most interesting selection though is that of Adam Zampa. The young leg spinner took 12 wickets at 22.5 in the Big Bash League and, having usurped Nathan Lyon, he has a chance to prove himself ahead of the T20 World Cup.
Lack of match practice aside, this well-drilled, powerful-looking Australian team are still the world's number one ODI team according to the ICC rankings.
For New Zealand, Brendon McCullum returns aiming for a glorious swansong, although Tom Latham is on stand-by should the skipper fail a fitness test.
And while Mitchell McClenaghan has joined Ross Taylor and Tim Southee on the sidelines, the Kiwis have proved to possess incredible in-depth strength of late.
Kane Williamson and Martin Guptill have been scoring runs for fun. And the presence of Corey Anderson, Colin Munro and Luke Ronchi should keep the spectators just across the boundaries on their toes.
The Kiwis' most obvious area of weakness is in the spin department with Mitchell Santner set to handle slow-bowling duties. He can expect to be put under heavy pressure by the Australian batsmen.
So, with plenty of questions which need to be answered, sit back and relax and enjoy this fascinating series.
ODI head-to-head record and latest meeting
New Zealand and Australia have contested 127 ODIs altogether, with the latter holding a startling 86-35 advantage so far.
The last meeting between the sides was the 2015 World Cup final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which the hosts won comfortably largely thanks to some inspired bowling by Mitchell Starc and Mitchell Johnson.
However, a meeting between the same teams earlier in the competition went the other way with the Black Caps edging a low-scoring thriller at the same venue that this contest will take place in.
ODI form
New Zealand: WNWWNL
Australia: LWWWWW
Squads
New Zealand
Brendon McCullum (c), Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell, Grant Elliott, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Adam Milne, Colin Munro, Henry Nicholls, Luke Ronchi, Mitchell Santner, Kane Williamson, Tom Latham (cover).
Australia
Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), George Bailey, Scott Boland, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, John Hastings, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa.
Key Players
New Zealand
With the two batting lineups similarly matched, Trent Boult's battle with the Australian top order will be crucial in deciding this contest.
Bowling with pace, skill and control—at both the start and end of the innings—the left-armer is the Kiwis' outstanding bowler and spearhead of the attack. What's more, with 14 wickets in seven white-ball outings already this year, he's clearly in form.
Australia
Even in a side packed full of potential match-winners, David Warner's numbers at the top of the order are incredible.
In his last 14 innings across all formats, the Aussie vice-captain has blasted five tons—including an epic knock of 254 against the Kiwis at Perth—and two half centuries.
Surprisingly, the fiery left-hander has only played four ODIs against New Zealand and averages just 22. Expect this number to rise rapidly over the next week or so.
Who will win?
Australia will start as favourites, but New Zealand have a great chance to go 1-0 up in the series given the tourists' lack of acclimatisation.
True, the conditions aren't as different as those offered by the Middle East or India, but the challenge of facing a swinging and seaming ball without a single warm-up match can only help the Black Caps.
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