The stage is set for the flagship event of the ICC to begin with the main stage in Super 12 of the tournament. The Super 12 starts with the Trans-Tasman rivalry in Australia and New Zealand locking horns with the Aussies being the favourites to start while the Kiwis would be wary of the results they had achieved in ICC tournaments as well as bilaterals. Get your seatbelts tightened as it is going to be a cracker of a game to start with!!!!
Overview:
Australia: There is a tree named as the Chinese Bamboo which will take nearly 5 years for even a bud of the tree to come on top of the soil but after the 5-year period is done, the tree grows about 90 feet tall in about just 6 weeks that one would be petrified at the rate and the days it takes to grow!!!! Same way, the powerhouse of ODI cricket, the Aussies lacked in their performances in the past T20 WC’s and hadn’t kept their hands on the coveted trophy until T20 WC 2021 which was held in UAE with India being the hosts and now are in a position wherein they would be even defending their trophy with a strong unit. Every department is as strong as they can be for the hosts and also the backups picked are equally best performers when made to play. The advantage of playing at home with known conditions and players adapting and performing at these grounds when the bilaterals happen adds salt to the wound for the opposition. One would be eagerly waiting to see if the jinx of the host country not winning the T20 WC trophy would be broken by the Aussies as it hasn’t happened in the past 7 editions.
Injury News: Cameron Green has replaced Josh Inglis in the final squad of the Australian team for T20 WC 2022.
New Zealand: “A man who is a master of patience is a master of everything else - George Savile”. Every Kiwi player since the 2015 WC finals have been as per the quote mentioned in white ball tournaments specially. The heart-breaking loss in 2019 WC still lingers hard on the Kiwis and more than that the not-so-tellable performance in the finals of the 2021 T20 WC would still be in their thoughts and they would be ready to showcase who they are when they meet their rivals on Saturday. The Kiwi line-up is almost the same as like the Aussies in the case of strength in batting barring Kane Williamson but a little concern in bowling as the senior duo in Boult and Southee may go south at any day. The tossup between the injury concerned Lockie Ferguson and Adam Milne will be a sweat to be wiped off for the coach and the captain. Spinners in Santner would be an asset in the PP but not anywhere beyond PP and Ish Sodhi’s performance in the recent past has been a matter of concern. But said and done, the Kiwis are the dark horses and can pull anything out of the hat and expect a great start to the tournament.
Probable Playing XI:
Australia: Aaron Finch (C), David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Matthew Wade (WK), Pat Cummins, Adam Zampa, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood.
New Zealand: Finn Allen / Martin Guptill, Devon Conway (WK), Kane Williamson (C), Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Jimmy Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Lockie Ferguson / Adam Milne
Pitch / Weather Report:
The Bureau of Meteorology in Australia is forecasting an 80% chance of any rain with 1 to 3mm although the wettest day is currently forecast to be Friday. "Very high (90%) chance of showers, most likely in the afternoon and evening. The chance of a thunderstorm," it currently states about Saturday.
The Sydney Cricket Ground is one of the most iconic grounds, however, the ground has hosted only ten T20Is so far. The average first innings score here is 168 runs. Toss might not play a big role in this game considering that the team batting first and second have won an equal number of matches.
Venue: Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
Date & Time: Oct 22nd at 12:30 PM IST and local time 18:00 AEDT
Live Streaming: Star Sports Network and Disney+ Hotstar
Interesting Facts:
- New Zealand and Australia have faced each other in two ICC T20 World Cup tournaments. Both teams have won one match each. In the ICC T20 World Cup in 2016, the star teams faced each other first in the T20 format. In that match, New Zealand won against Australia by eight runs. The last time they clashed was in the ICC T20 World Cup in 2021. Australia had won by eight wickets in that match.
- H2H record in T20s:
- Matches Played: 15
- Won by Australia: 10
- Won by New Zealand: 5
- Most runs:
- Martin Guptill – 463 runs and 35.61 avg
- Aaron Finch – 256 runs and 51.20 avg
- Most wickets:
- Ish Sodhi – 16 wickets in 10 innings
- Ashton Agar – 14 wickets in 9 innings
- New Zealand yet to win a single T20I match in Australian soil – played 3 and lost all 3
- New Zealand lost only one match last year against Pakistan
- Australia defeated Pakistan and qualified for finals in T20 WC 2021.
- Australia lost only one match against England last year.
- New Zealand defeated England and qualified for finals in T20 WC 2021.
(Credits: Dream11.com and my dear cricket fanatic friends)
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