Australia cruised to victory by 86 runs against New Zealand at Lord’s on Saturday, with batsman Usman Khawaja and pace spearhead Mitchell Starc starring for the defending champions.
Aaron Finch’s team, already through to the World Cup semi-finals from the 10-team round-robin stage, were wobbling at 92/5 after winning the toss on a hot day.
But Khawaja (88), who received fine support from player of the match Alex Carey (71) steadied the ship before he became the first victim of a last-over hat-trick from left-arm paceman Trent Boult as Australia finished on 243/9.
Watch Australia vs New Zealand video highlights: Starc, Khawaja help defending champions beat Kiwis
It proved more than enough, as New Zealand slumped to 157 all out with 38 balls to spare.
Jason Behrendorff (2/31) removed both the New Zealand openers before Starc – the tournament’s leading bowler – cleaned up with 5/26.
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson, who scored 40, could not repeat his heroics from earlier in the tournament as the Black Caps’ chase failed to take off.
They still have not confirmed their place in the semi-finals with one match to go but if England lose to India in Birmingham on Sunday, New Zealand will be in the last four before they face the tournament hosts in their final group match.
The game at Lord’s on Saturday saw a number of records being broken. Boult, Williamson and Starc were among the players who achieved some incredible feats.
Here are all the key stats and numbers from the match:
Mitchell Starc
— Umang Pabari (@UPStatsman) June 30, 2019
- First bowler to take three 5-fors in ODI WCs
- First bowler to take two 5-fors against a team in ODI WCs (v NZ)
- Second bowler to take 20-plus wickets in two different ODI WCs after Glenn McGrath#NZvAUS
Most wickets by left-arm pacers in an ODI:
— Sampath Bandarupalli (@SampathStats) June 29, 2019
12 - New Zealand vs Australia, Auckland 2015
12 - New Zealand vs Australia, Hamilton 2017
11 - Australia vs New Zealand, Lord's 2019#AUSvNZ #CWC19
46 - Mitchell Starc has claimed 46 wickets across the last two men's @cricketworldcup campaigns (2015 & 2019); 11 more than anybody else. Destructive. #NZvAUS #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/KLZgHAVGL3
— OptaJason (@OptaJason) June 29, 2019
Starc the first bowler to take three World Cup five-wicket hauls, and six World Cup four-fors.
— Andy Zaltzman (@ZaltzCricket) June 29, 2019
Starc's wickets with the old ball this World Cup, and their runs at that point
— Srinath (@srinathsripath) June 29, 2019
Tamim Iqbal 62
Shikhar Dhawan 117
Andre Russell 15
Jason Holder 51
Wahab Riaz 45
Ben Stokes 89
Kane Williamson 40
Deny him a wicket in the middle overs and take the World Cup! #CWC19
Kane Williamson becomes the 3rd fastest batsman to score 6,000 ODI runs (139 innings); behind only Amla (123) & Kohli (136)
— Fox Sports Lab (@FoxSportsLab) June 29, 2019
Williamson becomes the 6th batsman to score 6,000 ODI runs for NZ; joining Taylor, Fleming, Astle, Guptill & McCullum#CWC19 #BACKTHEBLACKCAPS #NZvAUS 🇳🇿 pic.twitter.com/0x1hbf8vBH
Trent Boult takes the 11th World Cup hat-trick & 1st by a @BLACKCAPS bowler
— Fox Sports Lab (@FoxSportsLab) June 29, 2019
5th bowler to take multiple ODI hat-tricks; Lasith Malinga, Saqlain Mushtaq, Chaminda Vaas & Wasim Akram
First ODI hat-trick by any bowler at @HomeOfCricket#CWC19 #BackTheBlackCaps #NZvAUS #AUSvNZ 🇳🇿
Three balls, three yorkers, three wickets, one stunning hat-trick. That is the first World Cup hat-trick for New Zealand. Perfect death bowling from Trent Boult. #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/93wet8OVmu
— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) June 29, 2019
2 - Trent Boult (@BLACKCAPS) has his 2nd ODI hat-trick (1st at a @cricketworldcup); 2 of the last 3 ODI hat-tricks have been taken by Boult. Class. #NZvAUS #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/vrMsQnlZKA
— OptaJim (@OptaJim) June 29, 2019
This is only the second time in the tournament that both Australia's openers have been dismissed for less than 50. The other occasion was against West Indies when Warner scored 3 and Finch scored 6. #CWC19
— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) June 29, 2019
4 - Trent Boult has now dismissed Aaron Finch 4 times in ODI cricket; only Umesh Yadav (5) has removed him more often. Breakthrough. #NZvAUS #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/Pbqh98axGn
— OptaJim (@OptaJim) June 29, 2019
[Inputs from AFP]