Cricket World Cup Preview – June 29th, 2019
This is going to be a huge showdown at Lord’s between two of the top four. Australia have already done enough to have qualified for the semi-finals with a couple of games to spare. They will be just trying to secure top spot in the table and will go into this one on the back of a four-match winning streak. It will be interesting to see how New Zealand respond to having lost their first game of the tournament last time out.
New Zealand v Australia Odds*
Australia 4/7
New Zealand 11/8
* (betting odds taken from June 27th, 2019 at 7:39 pm)
Can New Zealand beat Australia to take over at the top?
This has always been one to look forward too. New Zealand took a win in five of their opening six games of the tournament, the other one in that sequence getting washed out. They faced up to Pakistan at Headingley during the week and had their first taste of defeat. That was an on pitch which really didn’t suit them. It was slow and more suited to the spinners. The New Zealand bowling attack just couldn’t really make inroads into their opponents.
But the Kiwis will recognise the importance of taking down their rivals. They would jump above the Aussies by a point at the top of the table with one to play if they could take the victory. It would also guarantee them an automatic qualification place. They actually only need one point to do that, so they are pretty much there. New Zealand will finish their group stage campaign against England.
It has been no surprise that their star with the bat has been Kane Williamson who is the 7/4 favourites to be New Zealand’s Top Batsman in his fixtureNew Zealand 11/8* (betting odds taken from June 27th, 2019 at 7:39 pm). Do they have enough with the ball in hand to heap pressure on the Australians?
Head to head
In the last five years, there have been eleven ODI meetings between Australia and New Zealand. Things are even with five wins each with the one no- result. They actually have not met since a 2017 series in New Zealand, a series which the Kiwis won 2-0. In the last decade, they have met twice in England. Neither match produced a result though.
Australia push to top the table
You have to admire the way that the Australians have come to life just at the right time. They started peaking perfectly just before the start of the tournament after having had a torrid time of things in ODI matches. That’s all behind them and they are on course for top spot in the table at the close of the group stage. They have taken a W6 L1 record from their seven games so far, with only India having gotten the better of them. Australia had a big scrape with England at Lord’s on Tuesday and it was they who held their nerve and accepted a game plan much better than the tournament hosts did.
Australia beat England by 62 runs to heap pressure on the hosts, whose qualification for the semi-finals looks in jeopardy. You have to wonder where they would be without David Warner as he has put in some telling contributions and is the 11/4 joint-favourite alongside Aaron Finch to top score for Australia with the bat* (betting odds were taken from June 27th, 2019 at 7:39 pm). With Mitchel Starc cleaning up with four wickets against England, plus a star showing from Jason Behrendorff at Lords, they don’t look like slowing up.
Prediction
Australia as the front runners here. They have had that big taste of action at Lord’s already and therefore they can move on from there. Behrendorff and Starc were so good with the ball at Lords that they are likely to have too much for New Zealand. Australia to win outright at 4/6* (betting odds taken from June 27th, 2019 at 7:39 pm).
