Key events
22nd over: New Zealand 154-2 (Ravindra 29, Mitchell 52) Mitchell reaches a 42-ball fifty in style, smoking Starc past extra cover for four. This is a world-class cricketer we’re watching, and Australia won’t feel comfortable until he’s gone.
“As a 53-year-old man, Radiohead is my Radiohead,” says Pete Salmon. “Can I just suggest to these naysayers that all they need to do is get a time machine and go back to 1997, take a substance where you get the rush at about the 20-minute mark, and listen to OK Computer – ait for that bit where Let Down looks like it’s finished BUT IT HASN’T. The rest is easy.
“On another note I met Dave Gilmour of Pink Floyd once. I managed to say ‘You’re Dave Gilmour’. He said ‘Yes I am’ and we went our separate ways.”
Have you watched The Bear? I was euphoria on legs when Let Down kicked in.
21st over: New Zealand 149-2 (Ravindra 29, Mitchell 47) Ravindra skids back to back cut Zampa classily for four. That’s his first boundary in nine overs and the best shot he’s played today, so maybe it will get him going.
“Whilst admittedly not a big fan of Pink Floyd, Rob, I have to politely disagree with John Starbuck. Wish You Were Here is their best album. Period. Coincidentally released in 1975, just after the inaugural cricket World Cup. I’ll play it tomorrow after the England v India match, and weep.”
I hope it’s shorter – and more purposeful – than Sunil Gavaskar’s infamous innings in that tournament.
20th over: New Zealand 142-2 (Ravindra 24, Mitchell 45) Daryl Mitchell is a serious cricketer. He greets the return of Mitchell Starc with successive, emphatic boundaries, crashed past mid-off and then back over Starc’s head.
This is an expensive return for Starc. Two wides are followed gy a pull for two by Ravindra, which makes it 13 from the over. While Mitchell is there, New Zealand have hope. They need 247 from 30 overs.
“Everyone seems to forget Atom Heart Mother, the one about the cow getting hit by a train – superb,” writes Andrew Collins. “And Meddle, two great early Floyd albums…”
Thanks everyone, my playlist for next week is sorted. Or until 10.12am on Monday, if it turns out I can’t stand them.
19th over: New Zealand 129-2 (Ravindra 22, Mitchell 36) Zampa’s second over is much tighter, with just four singles from it. Ravindra hacked an impatient slog sweep but it didn’t beat deep square leg. He has 22 from 29 balls, Mitchell 36 from 31.
“Prompted by Nick Parish, can I opine that regardless of the dubious political leanings of one of its cast, the prospect of Frasier without Niles would be like reforming the Beatles without John,” says Brian Withington. “I’m still coming to terms with the idea of Jimmy bowling without Stuart, so forgive me for not rushing to embrace this one.”
18th over: New Zealand 125-2 (Ravindra 20, Mitchell 34) A let-off for Ravindra, who hooks Cummins just short of Zampa at fine leg. He’s really struggling against Cummins, with four four runs from nine balls now, and it’s hurting New Zealand.
“With just five tracks,” says Vibhanshu Bisht, “I would think Wish You Were Here is the easiest Pink Floyd album to start with.”
But how long are those tracks? I’ve heard the rumours. I’ve done the work.
17th over: New Zealand 120-2 (Ravindra 18, Mitchell 32) Adam Zampa replaces Maxwell. New Zealand would love to sit on him at five an over, but that’s not an option today. After three dot balls, Mitchell gloves an attempted sweep round the corner for four – and it’s a good thing he did because he would have been plumb.
If that was scruffy, Mitchell’s next shot was magnificent. He ran down the track and carted Zampa back over his head for a big six. That’s drinks.
“The Wall of course!” says Krishnamoorthy V. “(You should follow up with the excellent film by Bob Geldof too). You can later try The Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here. Are you back in the evening for the clasico?”
Thankfully not. Taha Hashim is covering it as part of the usual Saturday clockwatch.
16th over: New Zealand 109-2 (Ravindra 18, Mitchell 21) Ravindra is beaten by a bit of extra bounce from Cummins, drives a cutter just wide of short extra cover and then plays and misses at another slower ball. A superb over from Cummins, just two from it.
Ravindra is nowhere near his fluent best, and his scoring rate is starting to put pressure on Mitchell. In normal circumstances 18 not out from 23 balls would be fine; a target of 389 is not normal.
“My selection would be 1) Dark Side of the Moon; 2) Wish You Were Here; 3) Obscured By Clouds; 4) Saucerful of Secrets and 5) The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, if only to discover how it all got going. Animals and The Wall are less favoured, while the more recent ones such as The Division Bell and Endless River are OK but not great,” says John Starbuck. “One thing which favoured them was the engineering, which was so good people bought these LPs to test their sound systems, just as Quad was coming in during the 1970s.”
15th over: New Zealand 107-2 (Ravindra 16, Mitchell 21) Ravindra slices Maxwell just short of Head at short third. The ball spins past him for a couple of bonus runs. Maxwell is doing a fine job here: 5-0-27-0.
“You should listen to the first Pink Floyd album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967), the only one with Syd Barrett,” says Martin Crookall. “Then pretend the band never released anything after that. Of course, if you’d rather be bored to tears…”
14th over: New Zealand 101-2 (Ravindra 12, Mitchell 19) Cummins replaces Hazlewood, who bowled an important spell of 6-0-41-2. Mitchell drives pleasantly through extra cover for two, then belts Cummins back over his head for four.
I was going to say Mitchell is in glorious form but he’s been playing like this for 18 months, so maybe it’s just his level.
13th over: New Zealand 93-2 (Ravindra 11, Mitchell 12) Better from New Zealand, who milk Maxwell for six low-risk singles.
12th over: New Zealand 87-2 (Ravindra 8, Mitchell 9) Victory here would put Australia on the brink of the semi-finals. They’d probably need to win only one of the last three games – England, Afghanistan, Bangladesh – to be sure, especially as their net run-rate is so good.
Hazlewood continues into his sixth over. Ravindra swivel pulls round the corner for four, with Starc going down in installments at fine leg. The outfield is quite sandy so you can understand his reluctance to dive.
11th over: New Zealand 79-2 (Ravindra 3, Mitchell 6) Mitchell reverse sweeps Maxwell confidently for four. Boundaries are good but rotation of strike is equally important when you’re chasing a whopper; Maxwell has bowled eight dot balls in the last two overs.
“Two bands: Pink Floyd and The Rolling Stones. I’ve seen both of them live and it really worked,” says John Starbuck. “The Kinks might be in there were it not for a support band who carved out a semi-circle in the retreating audience with their over-heavy bass drum. It sent loads of people to the bar so it could be considered successful on the theatre’s own terms.”
I’ve never listened to a full Pink Floyd album, which to many will constitute cultural negligence. Where should I start?
10th over: New Zealand 73-2 (Ravindra 2, Mitchell 1) The new batter is the in-form Daryl Mitchell. Australia are applying the squeeze: New Zealand are 18/2 in the last four overs.
WICKET! New Zealand 72-2 (Young c Starc b Hazlewood 32)
Ravindra is beaten outside off by Hazlewood. This is his first appearance against Australia, a rite of passage for any Kiwi cricketer.
It’s Young’s first innings against them as well. Or rather, it was, because he has just fallen. The ball after lofting Hazlewood down the ground for four, he tried to drive a back-of-a-length delivery and edged to Starc at short third man.
9th over: New Zealand 67-1 (Young 28, Ravindra 1) Young rocks back to force Maxwell wide of backward point for four. That’s a classy stroke, but it’s sandwiched by a whole load of dot balls. New Zealand need 322 from 41 overs.
“I too have been unable to listen to Radiohead,” says John Starbuck, “but that’s because I’m an Old Codger and think they’re rubbish.”
Who would be your generation’s Radiohead? In terms of style and reputation, I mean, rather than personal preference.
8th over: New Zealand 63-1 (Young 24, Ravindra 1) That Hazlewood’s seventh wicket of the tournament, and his first left-hander. It was such a good catch from Starc, who swooped to his right to grab it two-handed as the ball died on him.
Despite a very good start, New Zealand are always 30 runs and one wicket worse off than Australia weer at this stage.
WICKET! New Zealand 61-1 (Conway c Starc b Hazlewood 28)
A huge wicket for Australia! Conway flips a full ball from Hazlewood round the corner, and Starc gets down smartly to take a superb catch at short fine leg.
Conway snaps his head back and roars angrily at the heavens, and himself. He goes for an all-too-brief 28 from 17 balls.
7th over: New Zealand 60-0 (Conway 28, Young 22) We will inded see Glenn Maxwell. He replaces Pat Cummins, who was hooked by Pat Cummins after a solitary over.
The spinners are the key to this runchase, so New Zealand may be happy to milk Maxwell and wait for the bad ball. That’s exactly what they do in his first over: five singles from it.
At this stage, since you asked so telepathically, Australia were 86/0.
6th over: New Zealand 55-0 (Conway 26, Young 19) Too straight from Hazlewood, and Young puts him away to the fine-leg boundary. That brings up the fifty partnership from 31 balls. Young chips another boundary over mid-on two balls later; Australia aren’t bowling well, and we might see Glenn Maxwell earlier than expected.
“Morning Rob,” says Nick Parish. “The key question surely is nothing to do with cricket – did anybody reply to your question as to whether the new Frasier is worth watching? And is it wrong that I feel much less inclined to watch it now I know Kelsey Grammer is a Trump supporter?”
Nope, not a soul, though the reviews were promising. I think we’re going to watch it just as soon as we finish our Royle Family marathon. As for the Trump thing, I guess it’s never been harder to separate art from the artist. I know I’ve been unable to listen to Radiohead since Thom Yorke first flaunted his man bun.
5th over: New Zealand 46-0 (Conway 26, Young 10) Only three men average 40 in all three forms of international cricket: Virat Kohli, Babar Azam and Devon Conway. For all the praise he receives, he is still slightly underrated. He might be the all-time great next door.
Conway makes a stagement by charging Pat Cummins’ first ball to chip a one-handed four over cover. Two balls later he flicks just short of Hazlewood at short fine leg, with the ball bouncing through him for another boundary – Conway’s sixth in 13 balls.
4th over: New Zealand 35-0 (Conway 17, Young 9) The commentators have pointed out the disparity in Hazlewood’s record at this tournament – excellent against right-handers, very poor against lefties.
For now he has the right-handed Young in his sights. Hazlewood beats him with a good delivery, nowhere near full enough for the drive that Young attempted.
After four dot balls, all good length, Hazlewood decides to try a bouncer and is swivel-pulled smoothly for a flat six by Young. An excellent shot but poor bowling.
3rd over: New Zealand 28-0 (Conway 17, Young 3) The first ball of Starc’s second over snaps down the leg side for five wides, then a misfield from Head turns one leg-bye into two. Young is beaten by a good delivery, then pings a square drive that doesn’t beat point. He has 3 from 8 balls, but the flying start made by Conway and Extras has reduced the pressure on him to score quickly.
Conway is not out!
Nothing on UltraEdge, as you were. I suspect they only reviewed that because it was Conway.
Australia review against Conway!
2nd over: New Zealand 21-0 (Conway 17, Young 2) Here’s Josh Hazlewood, who has had a fairly quiet tournament since that dramatic opening over against India. Successive wide deliveries are hammered for four by Conway, the first through the covers and the second past point.
Hazlewood switches round the wicket, pulls his length back and immediately has a big appeal for caught behind when Conway flirts outside off stump. It’s given not out but Pat Cummins is persuaded to review.
1st over: New Zealand 12-0 (Conway 9, Young 1) You’d think that, if New Zealand are to have any chance, Devon Conway will need to make a huge hundred. He has a fine record in successful ODI runchases, albeit with a small sample size: eight innings, average 89, strike-rate 88.
After a leg-side wide from Mitchell Starc to begin the innings, Conway waves a very wide outswinger over point for four. He’s beaten later in the over by a good delivery, with the same outswing but a much tighter line, but Conway has the last word with a beautifully timed push to the extra-cover boundary.
The players are back on the field. Only one team has chased a target of this size to win an ODI. Don’t play silly buggers, you know who it was.
There’s another game being played today, though it is unlikely to impact the race for semi-final places. Netherlands are 25/2 after 6.5 overs against Bangladesh.
Thanks Jonathan, hello everyone. I suppose it’s a good sign when you’re slightly disappointed with a total of 388. At two stages – 175/0 after 19 overs and 387/6 after 48 – they looked set for at least 400.
It’s still a mighty total, one you’d expect them to defend maybe 19 times out of 20. Talking of which, today is the first time Australia have hit 20 sixes in an innings in any format. The majority were pumped by David Warner and the remarkable Travis Head, who made one of the great World Cup debuts.
Head’s form since he returned to the ODI side in 2022 is pretty extraordinary. Let’s look at the evidence.
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2016-18 42 matches, 1273 runs at 34.40, strike-rate 90.02
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2022-23 17 matches, 900 runs at 64.28, s/r 123.79
If New Zealand are to pull this off, they will need to follow Head’s lead and go ballistic in the Powerplay. There is a recent precedent to comfort New Zealand: when they thrashed England in the opening game of the tournament, they reached a target of 283 with nine wickets and 82 balls to spare. In other words, had they needed to chase 389 they would almost certainly have done so. Then again, that was against England.
Australia 388 all out
Jonathan Howcroft
A Travis Head century, part of a 175-run opening partnership in just 19.1 overs, turbocharged Australia’s innings and sent them on their way to a massive 388.
Early on, a score in excess of 400 looked on the cards but Australia’s troublesome batting order again failed to capitalise on a blistering start. After Head (106) and Warner (81) flayed New Zealand to all corners of Dharamsala, Mitchell Marsh looked a newcomer to batting as he lurched to a 51-ball 36. Steve Smith (18) and Marnus Labuschagne (18) played with intent but neither cemented their place in what is now a fiercely contested side following Head’s return from injury.
Glenn Maxwell’s 24-ball 41 reignited the innings, and he was supported by handy knocks from Josh Inglis (38) and Pat Cummins (37).
New Zealand were uncharacteristically poor, dropping a number of simple catches and failing to bowl to their fields. It took the part-time darts of Glenn Phillips (3/37) to restore some order, while Mitchell Santner probably deserved better than his 2/80.
The pitch was superb for batting on early in the day but slowed up as morning turned to afternoon. Similarly, the older ball found some grip in the surface. Australia will benefit from learning these lessons after losing a toss that, at the time, looked to have gone in New Zealand’s favour.
Can the Kiwis chase down 389 as afternoon bleeds into evening? I’ll hand you over to Rob Smyth to find out.
WICKET! Starc c Neesham b Henry 1 (Australia 388)
Improbably, Australia are bowled out. Length from Henry, Starc swings it powerfully to leg, but he can’t clear Neesham on the midwicket fence.
WICKET! Zampa b Boult 0 (Australia 388-9)
Boult has three in the over! This one was comprehensive. Coming around the wicket, angling the ball in, Boult simply nails the stumps with Zampa backing away looking to manufacture some room. Boult ends with 3/77 from a difficult day.
49th over: Australia 388-9 (Starc 1)
WICKET! Cummins LBW Boult 37 (Australia 388-8)
Cummins steps towards off to find some room to free his arms. Boult beats him for bace bowling full and straight, the ball skidding into the pads bang in front on the crease. Very out. It’s given on-field but Cummins reviews for the hell of it, then walks off before the full process has completed. Brilliant lower-order hitting though. 37 from just 14 balls.
WICKET! Inglis c Phillips b Boult 38 (387-7)
Finally New Zealand hang on to a catch. Inglis holes out to Phillips at long-off, failing to get enough leverage on a Boult yorker. A handy 28-ball 38 from the wicket-keeper.
48th over: Australia 387-6 (Inglis 38 Cummins 37) I’ve not seen much from Josh Inglis to suggest he is an upgrade on Alex Carey – other than his pull shot, which is exceptional. He nails one off Neesham that flies for a massive six behind square leg. Then he’s DROPPED next ball. Oh that’s poor from Ravindra. It was the same delivery that got Maxwell, and almost the same shot, but this one skewed down to the cover sweeper who saw the ball into his hands near his chest, then out again.
The batters crossed for a single meaning Cummins is the man on strike, so he clears his front leg and smears another straight six! Then another! Poor bowling. Do not put the ball in the slot. Then ANOTHER DROP! Cummins tries the slog but gets some inside edge only for Phillips the midwicket sweeper to fail to hold on with the diving effort. The Aussie skipper makes them pay with ANOTHER SIX, this one slogged handsomely over square leg. Four sixes and two dropped catches – what an over.
47th over: Australia 360-6 (Inglis 31 Cummins 17) Trent Boult returns to close the innings from one end but things do not go according to plan. Cummins gets off strike first ball, then, after consecutive wides, Inglis engineers a reverse ramp for four directly behind Latham. Incredible shot. Cummins then clears his front leg and digs out a classic lower-order swish that has enough grunt behind it to reach the sightscreen on the full. Australia charging home with a wet sail, even without Maxwell.
46th over: Australia 344-6 (Inglis 25 Cummins 9) 15 valuable runs come from a scruffy over of batting, bowling and fielding. Inglis hasn’t appeared fluent as yet but he looks a million dollars driving Henry straight back down the ground for four. He’s then gifted a boundary after a decent hook shot is allowed to bounce straight through Ish Sodhi’s permeable long barrier at fine-leg. Henry’s luck continues to dessert him when a mistimed pull fails to reach midwicket off the splice, and his mood will have darkened further when Cummins steers a fine glance beyond Latham.
45th over: Australia 329-6 (Inglis 16 Cummins 4) Neesham follows up his excellent wicket with a couple of dots to Cummins as the changes of pace deny Australia’s batters any consistency to line up. But the skipper does manage to squirt a boundary away behind square from the final delivery, getting on top of some width and just beating the man at point.
WICKET! Maxwell c Boult b Neesham 41 (Australia 325-6)
Unsighted for the previous 44 overs, Jimmy Neesham is called into the attack due to the injury (Achilles soreness) to Lockie Ferguson. He starts with a dot and a single to Inglis, then adjust his line from over to around the wicket for Maxwell. AND IT WORKS! Full and wide, Maxwell goes after it, but he can only launch it high to Trent Boult at mid-off. Excellent bowling and strategic execution from Neesham and New Zealand. Just the 24-ball 41 from Maxwell today.
44th over: Australia 324-5 (Maxwell 41, Inglis 15) Henry back into the attack and he starts with a rare dot against Maxwell. And another! This one is a genuine edge from the Victorian, slashing at a length delivery, but it doesn’t carry through to Latham. And a third! This one hurt him too. Henry slipped in a slower ball bouncer, Maxwell went for the reverse hook but was too quickly onto it and the ball crashed into the back of his left hand. I don’t envy anyone trying to go through the mental gymnastics to picture that in their mind who didn’t see it in the flesh.
Henry continues to back his variations and despite Maxwell and Inglis’ best efforts they can only muster two singles with Maxwell failing to get any wood on a wide yorker to close the over.
