The first ODI between New Zealand and Australia was a cracking match and hopefully we will get more of the same on Thursday when the two sides meet in the second game of the series in Napier.
New Zealand claimed what turned into an epic contest which means they go into this second match of the series knowing a win will see them regain the Chappell-Hadlee trophy. Australia have to win to force the decider.
New Zealand
Although they won that opening match of the series New Zealand will know they is plenty of room for them to improve on that effort. Their batting was saved by Neil Broom and Jimmy Neesham while they almost threw it away with the ball despite being in a really commanding position from an early stage in their bowling innings.
Despite that the poise they held under extreme pressure in both innings is something that will stand them in good stead going forward and something that they can fall back on if things get tough at any point in the rest of the series. If in addition to that their major players stand up and be counted they will be tough to beat.
Australia
The end result glossed over an awful
lot of issues for Australia. They were struggling for much of their run chase until that amazing knock from Marcus Stoinis got them so close but I think they would have been better off being beaten in that situation to learn from their mistakes rather than get complacent about them had they won that match.
One issue which might become a problem throughout this series is the captaincy of Aaron Finch. I’ve never really been convinced by him as a captain and now that Matthew Wade has been ruled out of the series he will have to adapt his approach to benefit the team in the field rather than allow matches to meander along.
Team News
New Zealand have been forced into a change with Martin Guptill ruled out of this match. Dean Brownlie has been named as his replacement and he is likely to slip into the opening spot.
Australia have ruled Matthew Wade out of the series. Adam Zampa could come into the side for this match with Josh Hazlewood a potential player to sit out. Sam Heazlett is expected to feature again.
McLean Park
This will be the 43rd time an ODI has been held at this ground. New Zealand have a really strong record here. They have 24 wins to 13 defeats with a couple of ties and a no result. Australia have a pair of wins and a pair of losses on this ground.
This is another of those small New Zealand grounds so the boundaries should be peppered throughout and the match be another high scoring game. A couple of times over 325 has been chased on this ground.
Betting
There is a bit of rain around for this match which could make the wicket play a bit different to how it normally would plus with neither batting line up completely convincing anyone the match isn’t the easiest to bet on.
I’m going to take it easy and take one performance for this one. It is on Tom Latham who shone with the gloves in the first match which really does show the potential for him scoring well in this match. He scored 87pts in that first game with only seven of them coming with the bat but he won’t be caught down the leg side too often so I expect him to score bigger in this match.
His performance line is 33.5 which he is good enough to go past with the bat alone but with potential for points with the gloves too this line looks a touch low.
Tips
VOID – Back T.Latham’s Performance – Over 33.5pts for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
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