Australia finally got some valuable practice in the nets ahead of the big 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup clash against New Zealand in Auckland on Saturday.
New Zealand have won their first three matches while Australia’s game against Bangladesh was abandoned in Brisbane due to heavy rain.
The match against New Zealand will be Australia’s first game in a fortnight and there are fears that lack of match time and rust will be the major factors for Australia heading into the clash. However, Australian opener Aaron Finch has said these factors will not be an issue.
“We came off a good game against England and we’ve had no problems really. We’ve been training well during the week and had a pretty solid session on Saturday when we were meant to play. We’re feeling good and ready to go,” Finch said.
Australia’s last ODI against New Zealand came in the 2013 Champions Trophy in Edgbaston but the match ended in a no-result as rain played spoilsport. Finch, who scored a century against England at the MCG, will be playing his first game against New Zealand and said he was looking forward to facing the duo of Tim Southee and Trent Boult.
“Their bowling at the top of the innings has been outstanding with Southee, Boult and the rest of the guys chipping in. Myself and David Warner are going to have to play as well as we can to negate that,” Finch cautioned.
He ruled out the possibility of any surprises from both teams. “There’s probably not going to be any surprises from either team. There’s no real mystery spinner from either side to worry about. The Kiwis swing the ball right at the start, left and right arm, so we just have to play it on merit,” he said.
