Player of the Match
Player of the Match

9.10pm Pakistan snuck in a thriller against Afghanistan, and this big win for Australia now means this is how the top four looks. For the moment, this is Debayan Sen saying goodnight on behalf of Alagappan Muthu and Chandan Duorah. England versus India in a few hours from now. Be there or be square, good folks. Tata...

Aaron Finch: "From 5 for 92, a great partnership from Alex Carey and Usman Khawaja on a wicket we knew would turn. I think it was important that we got some time in the middle, but not in the way we did. It was a difficult wicket to start on, and the way Alex came in and hit the ball was excellent. It was not easy to time the ball. (On bowling) You try to be some flexible and pitch some overs from part-timers in the middle. We have seen the value of wickets between overs 20-40. (de Grandhomme wicket) Yeah, there's been some discussion between JL, Smudgie and myself - great that it worked out."

Kane Williamson: "It was a fairly challenging surface. If you were willing to hit the wicket hard, there was something in it, and there was some up-and-down bounce as well. Lots of spin as well, and a lot of credit for the way they rebuilt their innings and got to a competitive total. Obviously, we were trying to get the matchups. I probably bowled a bit more than I should have, with the left-handers in the middle. Throughout the innings, we thought we had them under control, but Carey took the game away with a brilliant partnership. Some big lads hit the wicket hard and got something out of it. What we needed was one major 100+ partnership where we could soak up some pressure and turn the momentum our way. It wasn't to be today, and we have to pick ourselves up and move on. (For England) I guess we have to look at the surface and make the right decisions. We have an extra day off, and it would be nice to freshen up a little bit. The wickets haven't been what a lot of people thought - they are perhaps tired."

9.02pm Mohan: "If England goes through NZ will be the fourth team else Pakistan will be fourth. NZ's big wins against weak teams are helping them out." --- By all accounts, tomorrow sounds like it will be England versus Rest of the World. At least in terms of supporters?

9.00pm Rivlud: "It's a batsmen game when a high quality bowler like Mitchell Starc takes a 5 for and get's beaten to the MoM award, what a joke!" --- I would agree on most days. Today's game was pretty much impacted by Carey's batting. It just took New Zealand far away from the position of strength they found themselves in with the ball early on

Alex Carey is the player of the match, tells Simon Doull: "It wasn't the start we wanted. Uzi (Khawaja) was out there and for me it was to assess the conditions. There was lots of time to bat. It did play a little on the slower side, and they were bowling really well. I stuck to my strengths, to drive when it wasn't short. Credit to Usman Khawaja as well, and Starc with the bowler. I really enjoy my batting. Ideally in the last 10 overs, but I don't mind opportunities like this. (On the steepling catch) It was important to hold on to that, the blue skies don't help, and Ross (Taylor) was batting really well. We have to move to Manchester and play really well too."

Starc is the first bowler with three five-wicket hauls in World Cups

8.55pm New Zealand made the first cuts in this contest, especially with the new ball. There was turn on offer for Mitch Santner, and even Kane Williamson did pretty well with the ball. But the doggedness of Usman Khawaja and the enterprise of Alex Carey helped Australia post 243, which we thought would be a challenging total. It proves to be more than enough, as Australia never allowed New Zealand to get away at all. A scratchy innings from Kane Williamson in an otherwise dismal batting effort from the erstwhile league table toppers here at CWC19. They still need some work to do to qualify

43.4
W
Starc to Santner, OUT, short, and he holes out to fine leg! Starc has five, and Australia have crushed New Zealand in an imposing performance where they were on the back foot for the first hour and a bit in this contest. Cricket, bloody hell! It was short and quick, and Santner actually got inside the line of the ball and was looking to hook this towards long leg. The pace on the ball took the top edge and made it go finer, and Behrendorff made no mistake

MJ Santner c Behrendorff b Starc 12 (42m 29b 0x4 1x6) SR: 41.37

43.3
0
Starc to Santner, no run, full ball, and he drives this towards cover
43.2
0
Starc to Santner, no run, full ball, and he looks to flick this down towards fine leg. Goes off the thigh, but he refuses a possible single

Purnima : "How badly would this margin of defeat would detoirate NZ's run rate? Would they be out of semi final contention because of it?" --- Definitely hurts their chances, but that is dependent on tomorrow's result

43.1
0
Starc to Santner, no run, length, fast, and he backs away and has a swing, and a miss...

"England's NRR dream ebbs with every slog," quips Andrew Miller

END OF OVER:
43 | 13 Runs | NZ: 157/9 (87 runs required from 42 balls, RR: 3.65, RRR: 12.42)

  • Trent Boult2 (7b)
  • Mitchell Santner12 (25b)
  • Nathan Lyon10-0-36-1
  • Mitchell Starc9-1-26-4
42.6
0
Lyon to Boult, no run, comes down the wicket and has a mighty heave at it. Trickles down towards deep midwicket, and Santner refuses the single to take on Starc
42.5
2
Lyon to Boult, 2 runs, comes down the wicket and gets it towards long leg. They pick up two before the fielder there can come around to that position
42.4
1
Lyon to Santner, 1 run, tossed up, and he drives this through point
42.3
4b
Lyon to Santner, 4 byes, length, and he goes back and wants to pump this through midwicket. Gets close to the inside edge, and it beats Carey, the bat and the leg stump on its way through to the fine leg fence

Phoenix99: "I may be roasted by my countrymen, but I feel this Australian team if reaches the final can be a tough one to beat and may bring back the sad memories of 2003 final. Because their strength lies in their mental fortitude which is becoming stronger with each passing day."

42.2
6
Lyon to Santner, SIX, moves across and whacks this over deep backward square leg!
42.1
0
Lyon to Santner, no run, length, turns and stays low. Santner wants to drive this back, but it sneaks under his bat

Lyon's final over

END OF OVER:
42 | (wicket maiden) | NZ: 144/9 (100 runs required from 48 balls, RR: 3.42, RRR: 12.50)

  • Trent Boult0 (5b)
  • Mitchell Santner5 (21b)
  • Mitchell Starc9-1-26-4
  • Nathan Lyon9-0-27-1
41.6
0
Starc to Boult, no run, full, backs away and gets an inside edge towards fine leg. Carey stops it

Nitish: "Ferguson was Starc's 44th Wicket in world cups from just 16 matches !! Only five bowlers are ahead of him now-- Vaas, Malinga, Wasim Akram, Murali and McGrath !!" --- Terrific numbers for someone who's still got some years to go, one would think

41.5
0
Starc to Boult, no run, full, and he backs away again and gets it towards point
41.4
0
Starc to Boult, no run, full, and he backs away again, but can get some bat on it. Plays it back towards Starc, who takes it on the bounce over his left shoulder

WATCH - Neesham top-edges a sweep off Lyon (Australia, UK and SEA only)

41.3
0
Starc to Boult, no run, short, and he backs away in trying to go down the ground, but misses out

Yasir: "Sukrit took 1000 words to find 3 similarities between 2003 n 2019."

Two slips in place for Boult as he walked in. One of them moves to leg slip

41.2
0
Starc to Boult, no run, honing in on the off stump, but Boult gets his bat down on it on time

Starc is on a hat-trick as well. One left-armer already has one for the day...and it is Trent Boult who now faces

41.1
W
Starc to Ferguson, OUT, BOWLED HIM! Starc always attacks the stumps, and this time he was too quick and too accurate for Ferguson. Wicket no. 23 as he comes from wide of the crease, and Ferguson fails to get behind the line of this

LH Ferguson b Starc 0 (7m 3b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.00

KedarKshirsagar: "A suggestion if you are open to it. You should make the run and ball remaining equation as part of the header so that it always shows even when we scroll down to check earlier commentery." --- For the moment, it's 100 required off 54

END OF OVER:
41 | 3 Runs | NZ: 144/8 (100 runs required from 54 balls, RR: 3.51, RRR: 11.11)

  • Mitchell Santner5 (21b)
  • Lockie Ferguson0 (2b)
  • Nathan Lyon9-0-27-1
  • Mitchell Starc8-0-26-3
40.6
0
Lyon to Santner, no run, length, and he cuts this away towards point

Sukrit Gupta: "@Prashant, I agree with you. There are a lot of parallels between 2003 and 2019, with the roles seem to be reversed between Ind and Aus. What Sachin did for Ind in '03, Finch/Warner are doing it here for Aus. In '03 when ever Aus batting faltered, their bowlers decimated the opposition. The same is being done by Indian Bowlers here. IN '03 Aus were a ruthless unbeatable force and Ind were the second best, here Ind have been unbeatable and ruthless and Aus so far have been second best. "

40.6
2w
Lyon to Ferguson, 2 wides, big turn, from outside off, across the batsman, and past Carey as well. Called a wide
40.5
0
Lyon to Ferguson, no run, length ball, defended to point
40.4
0
Lyon to Ferguson, no run, presses forward to defend a length ball

New Zealand 2nd innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st29MJ GuptillHM Nicholls
2nd13MJ GuptillKS Williamson
3rd55LRPL TaylorKS Williamson
4th21LRPL TaylorTWM Latham
5th0C de GrandhommeTWM Latham
6th7JDS NeeshamTWM Latham
7th6JDS NeeshamMJ Santner
8th10MJ SantnerIS Sodhi
9th3LH FergusonMJ Santner
10th13TA BoultMJ Santner