20 years on, the Trans-Tasman rivalry returns to the home of cricket

New Zealand are all set to lock horns with the defending champions, Australia in a bid to up their hopes of getting a place in the semi-final of the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup at the home of cricket, Lord’s, on Saturday. While it was supposed to be an easy route towards the target, a heart-wrenching defeat at hands of Pakistan on Wednesday has left the Kiwis with a mountain to climb, given their only fixture (apart from Australia) lies against England.

New Zealand taking on their trans-Tasman rivals is always a fixture for the savers. This time around though, the Aussies – having qualified for the semi-final already – have nothing to lose yet spoiling the Kiwis’ party would be something they would look forward to.

Meanwhile, if history is anything to go by, Australia arrive in the fixture as heavy favourites, having won a whopping 90 of their 136 encounters. And even if their World Cup battles are taken in account, New Zealand come nowhere near their counterparts, having lost seven of their 10 meetings.

For Australia, there are several milestones to achieve. For instance, they are just one victory away of equaling their record of most victories against any opponent in the World Cup. As of now, they have won eight against India, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.

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Having won four of their last five World Cup meetings, the venue somehow favours the Kiwis as the last time these two sides met in England/ Wales for a World Cup game (1999), New Zealand won by five wickets.

As far as their current performance is concerned, the likes of Aaron Finch and David Warner provide Australia a flawless opening option. Having accumulated 996 runs in this year’s World Cup, the pair seem way superior than Martin Guptill and Colin Munro, who have a combined total of mere 263 runs.

In Kane Williamson (who as 416 runs at 41.6 in 12 ODIs against Australia) though, the Kiwis have someone who can guide the team to if not massive total, at least a respectable figure.

The bowling department, on the other hand, is something to keep a keen eye on. In Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Jason Behrendorff, Australia have arguably the fieriest pacers of the generation. And the likes of Trent Boult and Lockie Ferguson provide the Kiwis with a similar threat with the ball.

Australia’s only worry in the World Cup has been the lack of contribution from the middle order. While Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis and Alex Carey have had their moments, the trio hasn’t really settled down as the team would have hoped for. As for New Zealand, right from Ross Taylor to Mitchell Santner – barring Tom Latham – have played crucial innings at times.

Feature image courtesy: Twitter / @BLACKCAPS