NZ v Aus 3rd ODI Preview: New Zealand hopes to give a winning send-off to Brendon McCullum

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New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum (L) congratulates Australian captain Steve Smith following the second one-day international cricket match between New Zealand and Australia at Westpac Stadium in Wellington on February 6, 2016. AFP PHOTO / MARTY MELVILLE / AFP / Marty Melville (Photo by; MARTY MELVILLE/AFP/Getty Images)
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New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum (L) congratulates Australian captain Steve Smith following the second one-day international cricket match between New Zealand and Australia at Westpac Stadium in Wellington on February 6, 2016. AFP PHOTO / MARTY MELVILLE / AFP / Marty Melville (Photo by; MARTY MELVILLE/AFP/Getty Images)

The tickets for the third ODI between New Zealand and Australia at Seddon Park has already been sold out as it will not only conclude the Chappell-Hadlee series but will also bring the curtains down on Brendon McCullum’s ODI career.

Both teams will go into the match with a chance to lift the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy. However, New Zealand would be more eager to lay their hands on it with an aim to give a joyful send-off to one of their greatest. Incidentally, it was against Australia that McCullum’s began his ODI career at the SCG back in January 2002. He has since then played 259 ODIs.

Australia will be carrying on the form which they showed during the 2nd ODI in Wellington. The win must have given them a sense of relief after five successive losses to India and New Zealand across the ODI and T20 formats. New Zealand had made a brilliant comeback in the match after Warner and Khawaja belted them initially. However, unfortunately for the hosts, Marsh and Hastings took away the game from them. The Kiwis will obviously want to win the upcoming game and maintain their stellar record at home this season.

New Zealand:

New Zealand went in with an unchanged playing XI in the 2nd game at Wellington and will most likely pick the same squad for tomorrow as well. However, they may be forced to make a change if Santner is not declared fit on time. He experienced pain in his right foot after the second ODI. The all-rounder has been the X-factor for hosts in the series so far. It would be a disappointment for him if he misses out to play in front of his home crowd. The Kiwis have brought leg-spinner Ish Sodhi into the squad as cover.

So far this season, there have been very minimal reasons for the Kiwis had to worry about. The team combination is working great. The batting order looks sorted while the bowlers have reaped the benefits of the home conditions and dominated the oppositions. McCullum would like to leave an impression in his ODI and should perhaps try to stay at the wicket rather than get out playing in his usual brash attitude.The last match saw Boult and Henry been quite easily played out by the Aussie openers, they would surely not let that happen tomorrow.

Australia:

The win in the last ODI will surely give Australia a lot of confidence going into the title clash. Batting wise, They have things to improve. Single-figure score by Steven Smith, George Bailey and Glenn Maxwell left them in troubled waters after starting off with a 122-run opening stand between David Warner and Usman Khawaja. They would have virtually lost the second ODI had Mitchell Marsh and John Hastings not steered them to the important victory. Bowling attack would largely depend on Hazlewood who did well in the last ODI. Zampa, who made his debut last match, also had an impressive day and would certainly like to make an impact. Mitchell Marsh will also be vital with both bat and ball.

Kane Richardson, who was left out from the second match due to back soreness, has been sent home for further assessment. Joel Paris, the left-armer who recently made his ODI debut has joined the squad as cover for the final ODI. Just like the Kiwis, change in the Australian line-up is also highly unlikely as they would like to go with the winning combination. A victory here would be a much-needed morale boost ahead of the Test series where been tougher challenge awaits them

Form guide (most recent first)

New Zealand: LWWWW
Australia: WLLWW

Playing XI (Probable)

New Zealand: Martin Guptill, Brendon McCullum (c), Kane Williamson, Henry Nicholls, Grant Elliott, Corey Anderson, Luke Ronchi (wk), Mitchell Santner, Adam Milne, Matt Henry, Trent Boult

Australia: Usman Khawaja, David Warner, Steven Smith (c), George Bailey, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Marsh, Matthew Wade (wk), John Hastings, Adam Zampa, Scott Boland, Josh Hazlewood

Pitch and conditions

The Seddon Park pitch is usually good for batting in limited-overs matches, and the forecast for Hamilton is for a fine day and a top temperature of 27C.

Stats and trivia

McCullum will finish third on New Zealand’s all-time ODI appearance list behind Daniel Vettori and Stephen Fleming, and third on their runs tally behind Fleming and Nathan Astle

Last time a Chappell-Hadlee series came down to the last match was in 2008-09 when the teams were 2-2 heading to Brisbane – the final ODI was washed out and Australia retained the trophy

The second match in Wellington was Billy Bowden’s 200th ODI as an on-field umpire; Rudi Koertzen (209) is the only other man to have reached that milestone

Grant Elliott has scored 1,926 runs and needs another 74 runs to reach the 2,000 runs milestone.

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