New Zealand vs Australia, 3rd T20I Match Preview

Things are not looking good for New Zealand ahead of the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024. The hosts lost the first T20I by the narrowest of margins with Australia clinching victory by six wickets off the last delivery of the match, followed by an embarrassing 72-run defeat at Eden Park, in which they folded like a deck of cards during the chase. Barring Glenn Phillips, none of the batters could step up while chasing 175 as the Kiwis were bundled out for just 102.

Things went from bad to worse for New Zealand as star batter Devon Conway got ruled out of the third T20I, courtesy of a thumb injury sustained by him while keeping in the second game. Skipper Kane Williamson skipped the series to focus on the upcoming Test series, and it has bothered the hosts thus far. On top of that, youngster Rachin Ravindra, who was ruled out of the second T20I, might as well miss the third match of the series. His progress is currently being monitored but the team management might not risk him, especially with the Test series coming up.

Australia, meanwhile, will be extremely laid-back. Travis Head gave a good start in the last match, as he smashed 45 runs off 22 deliveries, while Marsh made 26. Even though the batters struggled to convert their starts, the team management is unlikely to bat an eye and can consider it to be a one-off bad day. However, an argument can be made that it wasn’t as poor, since the team ended up putting 174 on the board.

Skipper Pat Cummins played a huge role towards the fag end to help the team post the total they did. He smashed 28 runs with the bat and later picked up a wicket to bag the Player of the Match award. Meanwhile, spinner Adam Zampa was relentless as he picked up four wickets to completely derail New Zealand's chase.

Eden Park Pitch Report

The surface at Eden Park is quite slow. Batting first will be ideal as the pitch will get slower as the game progresses. The spinners might enjoy as anything over 165 runs will be a competitive-enough total on the board.

NZ vs AUS Probable Playing XI

New Zealand:

Tim Seifert is likely to replace Devon Conway in the playing XI. In case Rachin Ravindra fails to recover on time, Will Young will continue at No. 3. They are unlikely to make any changes other than that.

Predicted XI:

Finn Allen, Tim Seifert (wk), Will Young, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Josh Clarkson, Mitchell Santner(c), Adam Milne, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult, Ben Sears

Australia:

Australia will miss the service of David Warner in the third T20I as he is ruled out with an adductor injury. Steve Smith will continue to partner Travis Head at the top of the order.

Predicted XI:

Travis Head, Steve Smith, Mitchell Marsh (c), Glenn Maxwell, Josh Inglis, Tim David, Matthew Wade (wk), Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood

NZ vs AUS T20Is Head-to-Head Records:

NZ vs AUS, 2nd T20I Broadcast Details: