BLACKCAPS Hosting Australia - First ODI Preview
Later bo Pakistan and kia ora Australia, welcome to the Land Of The Long White Cloud and Australian hatred. Summer is officially here as the Australian ODI squad have touched down and are gearing up for the first ODI tomorrow, heck they've already named their team for tomorrow so let's take a look at this first ODI shall we?
The Aussies have left Usman Khawaja out from their team for tomorrow, opting instead to roll with Shaun Marsh to partner David Warner at the top of the innings. Warner's normal opening partner Aaron Finch is out injured and it's clear that Australia are leaning towards staying loyal to those like Shaun Marsh who have been patiently sitting in the shadows. Khawaja's antics with the bat this summer have earned him plenty of praise to the point where much of Australia is bewildered by his non-selection in Australia's limited overs squads of late as he's simply stacked the runs up, this means that Marsh is certainly under pressure to perform. This could be a good or a bad thing for kiwis.
Marsh and Khawaja are both lefties who love to elegantly stroke the ball to the boundary, throw in the mandatory craft of an international batsman and they are both slick operators who haven't quite been able to manage consistent international cricket. Marsh and Warner will be followed by Steve Smith, George Bailey, Glenn Maxwell, Mitch Marsh, Mathew Wade, James Faulkner, John Hastings, Kane Richardson and Josh Hazlewood. This basically means that Australia bat all the way down to Hastings.
What worries me about this Australia team is their power and ability to score freely, which was evident in Australia and will only be intensified at Eden Park. Sure, Eden Park's pitiful boundaries didn't mean much when Australia were here last for the World Cup but that game was nothing more than an anomaly as the final was the big dance. Australia's top-four (ignoring Shaun Marsh) is nothing less than freakish: Warner averages 37.67, Smith 41.65, Bailey 43.21 and Maxwell averages 36.25 with a strike-rate of 126.40 which with Eden Park's boundaries could mean a hefty Australian total.
Australia's bowling attack will be led by Hazlewood who will take the new-ball and look to maintain a nagging line and length. Richardson can turn the pace on and Hastings' is a specialist at restricting the batsman, bowling a heavy ball and using his wealth of experience. Faulkner offers variety with his lefties and will likely operate in the middle period and the death, his T20I avearge of 24.80 suggests that Faulkner relishes the challenge of batsmen trying to whack him around.
Mitch Marsh will bowl some medium-pace while Maxwell will be Australia's only spinner. The kiwis might eye up the likes of Maxwell along with Hastings and Richardson as bowlers that they want to target. Maxwell won't turn the ball and will look to fire in yorkers while mixing up his pace as well, this could be a recipe for disaster for Maxwell as the margin for error for spinners at Eden Park is tiny, imagine if you're not spinning the ball?
The BLACKCAPS have called Ish Sodhi into the squad, a smart move as the kiwis could look to take Australia's pace attack and raise them a spinner, offering a funky point of difference.
Sidenote: Sodhi's call up is also beneficial in the sense that he's better off being in and around the ODI team in the lead up to the World T20 than playing Plunket Shield cricket.
Personally I reckon the chances of Sodhi playing are slim as Australia's batsmen will undoubtedly look to blast him into the Viaduct, an unnecessary risk at Eden Park. Save Sodhi for a bigger ground I say, alternatively this could work against Australia but I'm leaning towards Mitchell Santner holding it down for the spinners.
Brendan McCullum's return, or lack of runs on return, or manner of dismissal on return sparked up the seemingly weekly debate about McCullum's batting, which is very dumb. We've been there, done that and I'd rather face Adam Milne than discuss McCullum's style of play in his cricketing twilight. What I am worried about with McCullum's return is that it could confuse Martin Guptill again, with Guppy unsure about whether he should all-out attack or try see off a few overs and let McCullum go bang.
Guppy is at his best when he's playing freely, which an opening partner like Kane Williamson or Tom Latham offers.
Colin Munro could get a look in on his home ground but I reckon we'll see Guptill, McCullum, Williamson, Nicholls, Elliott, Anderson and Ronchi rolled out. The three lads who will have my attention tomorrow are Nicholls, Elliott and Anderson as this is where Australia have the advantage. Nicholls hugely important because his bread and butter is working through the middle overs with precision, similar to Elliott while Anderson is all power. The quality and variety in play is there, I'm just weary about the execution and if Australia can roll these three cheaply then they'll smell blood in the water, not only for that innings but for the rest of the series.
Mitchell McClenaghan's kinda lucky huh?
I would have loved to have seen Mitchell McClenaghan take on Australia at Eden Park, instead he did his best Matt Mitrione impression. Trent Boult is now a certainty in ODI cricket and his ability to swing the new-ball is perhaps the most crucial factor with either bat or ball for the kiwis. Australia will likely show Boult respect and then look to target Matt Henry and Adam Milne, with Eden Park offering a huge test for Henry and Milne; fractionally too full and it's a short straight boundary, miss your short-ball assignment and Aussies love to cut/pool.
Doug Bracewell is currently a back up to Henry and Milne, he'll only be selected if it looks like it could swing/seam.
Grant Elliott enjoyed success against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, two sub-continent teams who traditionally struggle in kiwi conditions let alone against a typically kiwi sort of bowler like Elliott. Again, at Eden Park I can't see Australia allow Elliott to get through 10 overs for less than 40/50 runs and how Elliott responds will be very interesting. It's a similar situation for Mitchell Santner and Anderson, these three will be called upon to do a job in the 15th-35th over period and they'll need to be precise in their execution.
I'm not overly confident to be honest, not at Eden Park anyway. We've all just seen Australia handle India's run-scoring exploits with ease and Eden Park is a child's cricket ground which I see Australia dining out on. Moisture around Auckland could help the swingers, with Australia's only swinger/nibbler being Hazlewood while the kiwis have a few, however for me the most important players for the BLACKCAPS are their three allrounders who will be tested in the middle-order and targeted by Australia with the ball.