The joint co-hosts of the 2015 ODI World Cup met in a potential taster for the later stages of the tournament over the weekend, as New Zealand were able to grab the early bragging rights in the battle of the southern hemisphere cricketing giants. In a low scoring encounter at Eden Park in Auckland, the home side made their local knowledge count to their advantage but only just, to take a tense victory by just one wicket over arch rivals Australia. New Zealand now look almost certain to qualify for the later stages, while Australia need to return to the all-conquering form that they displayed in wiping England aside in their opening group game in Pool A.
Australia batted first but were unable to master the conditions and the home side's bowling attack. They struggled to a paltry 151 before being bowled out, including a worrying spell where they lost eight wickets for the addition of just 26 runs. The man with the 'Midas touch' was once again Trent Boult, taking an impressive 5-27 and marking him out as surely one of the stars of the tournament already, especially from a bowling standpoint.
New Zealand in reply could not have claimed to be completely dominant as they chased such a low total, although they did look reasonably comfortable when standing at 131-4. When that became 146-9 as Mitchell Starc weaved his magic on the Kiwi batsmen, with a thrilling spell of 6-28, the alarm bells would have been ringing in the Black Caps' dressing room.
They deserved praise though for showing their character to see themselves over the line for the victory, despite that late batting collapse. Kane Williamson was their main hero on the batting side, scoring 45 not out and hitting the winning runs with a wonderful six off Pat Cummins. The run rate had never been an issue, as the New Zealanders took just 23.1 overs to knock off the runs required.
The Kiwis have won all four of their fixtures at the World Cup, so sit proudly on top of Pool A with eight points. One would expect Australia to bounce back and still qualify for the quarter-finals themselves, despite only having three points so far from their three matches. They would probably have been in a far healthier position in the group, but for the no result from their clash with Bangladesh that was washed out.