AUS vs NZ | Takeaways - Jason Behrendorff's sustained brilliance and Alex Carey's calming influence

ByAnirudh Suresh, SportsCafe Editor

06/30/2019

Australia registered yet another clinical performance as New Zealand slumped to their second consecutive defeat of the tournament. After battling their way to 243 thanks to Usman Khawaja and Alex Carey, Mitchell Starc's five-wicket haul ensured that Australia retained their top spot on the table.

Ice-cool Alex Carey proves his worth

Pre World Cup, there were question marks surrounding Alex Carey’s selection, with experts and former Cricketers alike urging Australia to pick Peter Handscomb as the first-choice keeper to add more balance to the side. But the selectors decided to put their faith in the South Australian, and Carey has repaid their faith and how! Amidst the high scoring knocks provided by Warner and Finch, Carey’s performances have gone under the radar, but make no mistake with an average of 61, he has played a massive role in Australia’s success.

Cast your mind back to Australia’s second match against the Windies. After their top and middle order succumbed to the barrage of short balls, Carey walked in to bat with Australia reeling at 79/5. Unmoved by the situation, Carey steadied the ship, batting alongside Steve Smith, posted an invaluable 45. Today was no different. Walking into bat at 92/5, Carey didn’t seem to care about the scoreboard, bringing a sense of calm to the middle. He struck a well compiled 71, dispatching bad balls whilst constantly rotating strike.

Not only did Carey maintain his cool, he also read the match situation perfectly, taking it as deep as possible before deciding to launch. Unfortunately for him, it didn’t come off to the extent that he would have liked, as he holed out to Guptill in the 43rd over, but by the time he made the long walk back, the Aussies were on the brink of crossing the 200-run mark. A day after Steve Waugh described him as" a blend of Mike Hussey and Michael Bevan", one could say that Carey’s innings was almost like a tip of the hat to the former skipper. He might still have a long way to go for it, but one can be sure that he is indeed on the right path.

New Zealand’s bowling rises up to the occasion - once again

136, 244, 172, 241 and 243 - these are the scores that New Zealand have restricted their opposition to while they have bowled first in this World Cup so far, picking 45 wickets (out of a possible 50) in the process. These are truly astonishing numbers in modern-day Cricket, in an era where batsmen have had the better of the bowlers time and again. The pace duo of Trent Boult and Lockie Ferguson have combined to pick up 30 wickets so far in this World Cup, tormenting the opposition batsmen with their contrasting styles.

The Kiwis had their task cut out when they came out to bowl against an in-form Finch and Warner, but Boult and Ferguson ensured that they sent both the openers packing within the first 10 overs. While Ferguson troubled the batsmen with sheer pace, Boult made the most out of conditions which offered some swing and kept the batsmen on their toes. Above all, New Zealand would be mighty impressed with the performance of the all-rounders, with James Neesham and Colin de Grandhomme ending up with combined figures of 14-1-57-2.

The icing on the cake was Trent Boult’s hat-trick in the last over, nailing three perfect yorkers to restrict the total to 243. Saying that, they would be disappointed with the performance of their frontline spinners Sodhi and Santner, bowling nine wicketless overs conceding 58 runs. Brushing that aside, New Zealand put in yet another complete bowling performance. Bowling India out for 92 & 179 in a span of two months speaks volumes about their quality - despite conditions being helpful, but one thing is for sure, not many teams would fancy batting first against this Kiwi attack.

Behrendorff - The last piece in the Aussie bowling puzzle?

After six matches, Australia sat comfortably on the top with 10 points, but there was one major issue which they still had to address - their third seaming option. They kept chopping and changing and tried everyone - Nathan Coulter-Nile, Kane Richardson, and Jason Behrendorff were all given chances at some point in time. Behrendorff was picked for the game against Sri Lanka, but Australia missed a trick by not giving him the new ball. As the tournament progressed deeper, their concern grew bigger and were left with a huge problem to solve.

That was until the game against England. Australia finally learnt their lesson and gave the new ball to Behrendorff and boy he did not disappoint. The Western Australian put on an exhibition of swing bowling, picking his maiden five-wicket haul and knocking England over in the process. Today, he backed up his spell against England with yet another world-class display of swing bowling, adding a whole new dimension to the Aussie pace attack. Not only does he compliment his partner in crime Starc perfectly, but also gives Australia the leverage to use Cummins as the first change bowler - a sight that not many teams would like seeing.

After going wicketless in his first spell, Behrendorff came back for his second spell and knocked over both the openers - a spell that saw him bowl seven overs on the trott, in what was an astonishing display of control and consistency. Behrendroff did manage to find the outside edge of Kane Williamson, a tough chance which was unfortunately put down by Alex Carey. Behrendorff set the tone for the rest of the innings by asserting his dominance over the Kiwi batters. These two matches have all but sealed Behrendorff’s place in the starting XI, and no one would be happier than skipper Aaron Finch, who now has a new ball bowler who he can rely on.