Australia vs New Zealand, Australia vs New Zealand 2019, Today Match Prediction 03 Jan 2020

aus vs nz Match Prediction & Analysis

Happy New Year and welcome to the preview of the first test match of this year and the decade.

Australia has been all over the Kiwis this series and they have won the series by 2-0 margin after beating them comprehensively in the first two test matches. Australia narrowed their gap between India in the ICC test championship points table and they also have 40 Championship points to gain from this match.

New Zealand came into this series at No.2 position in the ICC test rankings and after their performance here a lot of people have questioned their team`s effectiveness outside home in Test cricket. They need to win this match and prove themselves to the world that they are a quality side. No match in Test cricket is a dead-rubber and ICC test championship points on stake make the contest even more interesting on cards.

TEAMS PREVIEW

Australia Preview

Australia team piled up 467 runs in their first essay the last match and they had five consecutive 50+ partnerships from the top order to the middle order in the process.

Travis Head compiled a well constructed 114 runs to register his second Test century. Marnus Lambuschagne (63), Steve Smith (85), and Tim Paine (79) came up with fifties to build vital partnerships. Pat Cummins spell of 5/28 dismantled New Zealand for 148 runs in the first innings.

James Pattinson and Mitchell Star took 6 and 2 wickets respectively in the match. Nathan Lyon took 4 wickets in the second innings and will be Australia's No.1 spinner in the team. Mitchel Swepson may be included in the playing XI owing to the spinner friendly SCG track.

Key Players:

David Warner – David Warner has scores of 43, 19, 34, & 41 in the four innings so far. He is failing to make the start count and we can expect a big knock from him very soon. Never forget he recently made an epic 335* a couple of matches ago.

Nathan Lyon – Lyon has 10 wickets so far in this series and he will be having a big role to play in this match at SCG. He has been very vocal in opposing Shane Warne`s opinion of resting him for the SCG match.

Australia Predicted Playing XI:

David Warner, Tim Paine (c & wk), Steven Smith, James Pattinson, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Pat Cummins, Joe Burns, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Matthew Wade

Australia Actual Playing XI:

Tim Paine, James Pattinson, Marnus Labuschagne, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Joe Burns , Matthew Wade, Steven Smith, David Warner, TM Head, Nathan Lyon

New Zealand Preview

New Zealand batting has failed miserably and leads their team down with their scores reading 166, 171, 148, & 240 in the four innings. Tom Blundell`s century was the best takeaway for the New Zealand side from this series and we can expect him to continue his good form in this match too. Tom Latham came up with a hard-fought 50 in the first innings.

Senior players like Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, and BJ Watling must stand up and score consistently.

Neil Wagner was impressive with his bowling this series taking 14 wickets and leading the bowling charts. Tim Southee has 12 wickets so far but they lack the effectiveness of third seamer this series with Ferguson and Boult in the middle of the matches. Mitchell Santner may be dropped and Todd Astle or Ajaz Patel may come into the playing XI.

Key Players:

Kane Williamson – Williamson has just 57 runs from the four innings he played this series. He needs to lead the team from the front with his performances. He is a class player to fail for too long and expect a big score from him.

Neil Wagner – Smith -4, Labuschagne -2, Warner -3 these are the no. of times they are dismissed by Wagner this series. Wagner`s 12 of the 14 wickets are from the Aussie top-six batsmen this series.

New Zealand Predicted Playing XI:

Tom Blundell, Tom Latham, Kane Williamson (C), Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, BJ Watling (Wk), Neil Wagner, Colin De GrandHomme, Tim Southee, Matt Henry/Todd Astle, Ajaz Patel

New Zealand Actual Playing XI:

Ross Taylor, BJ Watling, Jeet Raval, N Wagner, Matt Henry, Colin de Grandhomme, William Somerville, TA Blundell, TD Astle, Tom Latham, Glenn Phillips

Weather Conditions

The weather is expected to bright and for the first three days and we can expect a bit of rain on the fourth and fifth days. Forest smog is expected to make some interruptions in the Test match on any day.

Venue Details

SCG is a spinner friendly track in Australia and we can expect spinners to enjoy the bounce and turn as the match progresses. Teams have scored over 600+ runs in the first innings in the last two tests played here.

Toss: To Bat

Teams batting first will have the best of the batting conditions from days 1 to 3 and it will be tough to bat on day 5 as the pitch is will deteriorate and spinners will come into action.