Key events
WICKET! Warner c Williamson b Henry 5 (Australia 7-2)
Carbon copy dismissal and it is Warner who is on his way this time! Plinking a drive on the up straight to a gleeful Kiwi skipper. Australia in all sorts!
3rd over: Australia 7-1 (Warner 5, Smith 2) Davey Warner biffs Boult down the ground for a lofted four. A counterpunch. Smith is away too with a nudge. A nudge from Smudge.
2nd over: Australia 0-1 (Warner 0, Smith 0) Steve Smith is the new man and he pats back a maiden, a wicket maiden to boot. Strong start for the Kiwis. The ball was there for Finch to hit but he just didn’t commit fully to the stroke, the bat twisting in his hand as he tried to take the ball on the up. Penny for ‘em Aaron?
WICKET! Finch c Williamson b Henry 0 (Australia 0-1)
It’s a plump slice of duck for Aaron Finch! He plinks a length ball from Matt Henry tamely to Kane Williamson at mid-off. Finch hangs his head and drags himself from the field, might that be the end?
1st over: Australia 0-0 (Warner 0, Finch 0) Boult is right on it from the get go, there’s a hint of movement and the left-armer reels off dot after dot after dot… you get the picture – a maiden first up.
Trent Boult has the ball under slightly cloudy Cairns skies. Warner and Finch are out there with willow in hand. Let’s play!
Here’s the teams:
One change to each side. According to Finch at the toss Cam Green has not quite recovered from his heroics the other night so Sean Abbot takes the all-rounder spot for the Aussies.
Wily old veteran Tim Southee is back in for the Kiwis, replacing Lockie Ferguson. Southee needs just three more scalps to get to 200 ODI wickets, a mighty fine career he’s had.
New Zealand: Guptill, Conway, Williamson (capt), Latham (wk), Mitchell, Bracewell, Neesham, Santner, Henry, Southee, Boult
Australia: Finch (capt), Warner, Smith, Labuschange, Stoinis, Carey (wk), Maxwell, Abbott, Starc, Zampa, Hazlewood
New Zealand win the toss…
They are going to bowl first up, if they start in similar fashion to the first game then you’ll not want to miss the first few overs.
There’s also the somewhat mouthwatering prospect (for the neutral) of Aaron Finch v Trent Boult as the Aussie skipper battles to save his place in the side and maybe his captaincy tenure with it.
Preamble
James Wallace
Hello and welcome to the OBO of the second match of the Chappell-Hadlee series in Cairns.
Australia survived the wobbliest of wobbles in their top order in the first match to eventually prosper by two wickets. They had mature knocks by Cam Green and Alex Carey to thank for helping them squeak a win after being reduced to 44-5 under lights.
Can New Zealand level the series or will the home side secure it, let’s find out shall we?
Jim here with the call first up before Daniel Gallan, a ‘specialist finisher’ in the mould of Michael Bevan, tags in later to steer the chase.
Back in a tickle with the toss and teams.