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After having clinched a low-scoring series opener, can hosts Australia produce another win in the second ODI to seal their seventh Chappell-Hadlee trophy win?
The first of three ODIs between the sides at the Cazaly’s Stadium was kind of a throwback to the Nineties and the Early 2000s, with a 233-run target proving enough to challenge a well accomplished batting line-up. The hosts though, prevailed in a gripping finish by two wickets, and with it took a 1-0 lead. Another win – in the second ODI at the same venue on Thursday, September 8 – will help them register a seventh Chappell-Hadlee trophy win.
The Kiwis huffed and puffed to a first innings total of 232/9 after being put in, with three of their batters scoring in the forties. They reduced Australia to 44/5 in the chase, igniting the hopes of registering their first ODI win in the country in well over 13 years. However, Australia were rescued by Cameron Green and Alex Carey in a game-defining partnership of 158, the latter finishing unbeaten on 89 off 92 to guide his side home.
Australia would be immensely pleased with an all-round bowling show, but a top-order failure remains a concern, more so, given the recency effect of a shocking defeat to Zimbabwe recently, wherein they had crumbled from 129/5 to 141 all-out in a game-defining passage.
David Warner had scored 94 of those, and was sublime on the challenging Sri Lanka wickets earlier in the season too, but lack of contributions from the likes of skipper Aaron Finch and Steve Smith remains a concern. The bowling is well-rounded with a full-pronged pace attack and the expertise of wrist-spinner Adam Zampa, not to forget the valuable off-breaks of Glenn Maxwell, that accounted for four wickets on Tuesday.
As for New Zealand, the seam attack has progressed fine ever since the drubbing to England in Tests, as was evident on the recent Caribbean tour and in the first ODI. Kane Williamson though would expect more from the batting unit, including himself, if they are to maintain their supremacy at the top of ODI rankings, and register an elusive win on Australian shores.
Key players
David Warner has been Australia’s standout performer in limited-overs cricket over the last year or so – a run that had begun with a Player of the Tournament performance in the team’s victorious run at the T20 World Cup 2021 in the UAE. He had got off to a start in the first ODI too, but middled one straight to deep-square leg after a promising 20. The left-hander was the leading-run scorer in the series against Zimbabwe recently, with 164 runs from three outings, well clear of the next best Steve Smith, who managed 96. Warner has dominated New Zealand in the past, and his form of late present ominous signs for the Blackcaps.
With his impeccable consistency with the new ball coupled with shrewd death-bowling skills, Josh Hazlewood has progressed leaps and bounds as a white-ball bowler in recent times, . All of that was on show in the first ODI, conceding just seven off his first four overs, before bagging three quick wickets at the back end to round off his bowling analysis of 10-1-31-3.
Against Zimbabwe, he bagged four wickets from three games, while maintaining a highly impressive economy of 3.15 across the 26 overs bowled. His discipline might not always fetch wickets, but allows the likes of Mitchell Starc to reap rewards from the other end.
Martin Guptill has the ability to take down the best of bowling attacks on his day, but has blown hot and cold in recent times. He was uncharacteristically slow on Tuesday, scoring 6 off 19, with a struggling stay at the crease brought to an end by Maxwell’s stunner at backward point after Starc had induced a leading edge off the right-hander. Guptill would seek confidence from his exploits in the last Chappell-Hadlee series contested in Australia – back in 2016-17 – wherein he was the highest-scorer for the Blackcaps in a 0-3 whitewash, aggregating 193 runs from three innings, including a valiant 114 in the opener in Sydney.
A lot might’ve been going off the field for Trent Boult, with him having withdrawn his name from the New Zealand Central Contracts list recently, but his form and class has remained undiminished. He was the leading wicket-taker in the three-match ODI series in the West Indies last month, with eight scalps at just 15. It was the left-armer’s brilliance with the new ball on Tuesday that set up a tight finish, with him undoing the links of Finch, Smith and Marnus Labuschange with great exhibition of swing and seam in a brilliant opening burst. His track-record against Australia, which includes a World Cup five-for and hat-trick, make him one of the players to watch out for in the upcoming games.
Prediction
Australia once again begin favourites given their form and on-paper combinations. The home-advantage too, albeit at a venue hosting international cricket for the first time since 2004, tilt the balance in favour of the hosts.
