Playthrough: Australia

[ddrap14]

Australia vs NZ, Second Test
Australia lineup: Warner, Harris, Labuschagne, Smith, Head, Handscomb, Green, Cummins, Hazlewood, Lyon, Swepson
Swepson and Green on debut for a spinning Sydney pitch. NZ bring in Somerville and Sodhi for Southee and Henry.

NZ 1st Innings: 460 (Watling 86, Guptill 84, Nicholls 68, Hazlewood 3/85)
New Zealand played very well but nobody went on to a big one. The two debutants did impress for Australia; Swepson was hammered early but kept it tight to the likes of Taylor and Neesham.

AU 1st Innings: 232 (Marnus 87*, Sodhi 3/44)
Australia's middle order collapsed hugely, leaving them 4 for under 100 and facing an uphill battle. Marnus nearly saved them from the follow on. Nearly...

AU 2nd Innings: 246 (Smith 99*, Swepson 33, Sodhi 4/55)
Again, the middle order was nonexistent, but Swepson proved an unlikely hero in helping Smith avoid innings defeat.

NZ 2nd Innings: 0/18

NZ win by 10 wickets

 

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Australia vs NZ, Third Test
Australia lineup: Warner, Harris, Labuschagne, Smith, Pucovski, Handscomb, Green, Cummins, Starc, Hazlewood, Lyon
Head is rested for the final game with Pucovski becoming debutant 4 of the series. Henry returns for Somerville but Sodhi is retained after 9 wickets.

NZ 1st Innings: 433 (Guptill 132, Latham 53, Hazlewood 4/95)
Another frustrating innings for the Aussies as they just couldn't make consistent and regular breakthroughs. The star was Guptill who scored a run a ball 132.

AUS 1st Innings: 359 (Labuschagne 90, Harris 75, Smith 74, Boult 5/100)
Australia were going great at 2/284 and 3/304, but the tail could not handle Boult and lost 7/55.

NZ 2nd Innings: 288 (Nicholls 121, Starc 4/49)
The Aussie quicks tore through the top order but spirited resistance from the tail allowed Nicholls to make a ton.

AU 2nd Innings: 8/281 (Handscomb 55, Pucovski 51, Boult 4/82)
Labuschagne and Smith both fell before they got to 50, making NZ clear favourites. However, Handscomb and Pucovski stayed together for a session, proving their credentials, before Cummins and Lyon played out 10 overs to secure the draw.

 

[ddrap14]

This is a sticky post of all caps from the series.

Cap No	Name	Debut	Last Game	Runs	Avg	HS	Wickets	Avg	BB
414	Tim Paine	, Lords 2010	, MCG 2019 (broke hand, retired)
415	Stephen Smith	, Lords 2010	Active
419	Usman Khawaja	, SCG 2011	Active
421	Nathan Lyon	, Galle 2011	Active
422	Shaun Marsh	, Pallekele 2011	Active
423	Pat Cummins	, Joburg 2011	Active
424	James Pattinson	, Brisbane 2011	Active
425	Mitch Starc	, Brisbane 2011	Active
426	David Warner	, Brisbane 2011	Active
428	Matt Wade	, Barbados 2012	Active
432	Moises Henriques	, Chennai 2013	, SSC 2016 Active
434	Ash Agar	, Trent Bridge 2013	, Chattogram 2017 Active
438	Mitch Marsh	, UAE 2014	Active
440	Josh Hazlewood	, Brisbane 2014	Active
441	Joe Burns	, MCG 2014	Active
445	Cal Ferguson	, Hobart 2016	, Brisbane 2019 Active
447	Peter Handscomb	, Adelaide 2016	Active
448	Nic Maddinson	, Adelaide 2016	, MCG 2016 Active
449	Matt Renshaw	, Adelaide 2016	Active
450	Hilt Cartwright	, SCG 2017	, Chattogram 2017 Active
451	Cam Bancroft	, Brisbane 2017	, Cape Town 2018 Active
454	Travis Head	, UAE 2018	Active
455	Marnus Labuschagne	, UAE 2018	Active
456	Marcus Harris	, Brisbane 2018	Active
457	Kurtis Patterson	, Brisbane 2019	Active
458	Jhye Richardson	, Brisbane 2019	Active

Players below here have debuted under me

459	Chris Tremain	, MCG 2019	Only Test
460	Cameron Green	, MCG 2019	Active
461	Mitchell Swepson	, MCG 2019	Active
462	Will Pucovski	, MCG 2019	Active

 

[ddrap14]

And the list of new caps for LO:

ODI:

Cap No	Name	Debut	Matches
229	Cameron Bancroft	, Jo'burg 2020	3
230	Chadd Sayers	, Pretoria 2020	4
231	Marnus Labuschagne	, Lord's 2020	1

T20:

Cap No	Name	Debut	Matches
95	Matthew Renshaw	, Dhaka 2019	1
96	Chris Green	, MCG 2020	6
97	Riley Meredith	, Brisbane 2020	3
98	Jack Coleman	, MCG 2020	1

 

[ddrap14]

NZ ODIs:
Squad: Renshaw and Sayers, standouts of the JLT Cup, in the squad
Aaron Finch (C)
Alex Carey
Nathan Coulternile
Pat Cummins
Shaun Marsh
Glenn Maxwell
Matt Renshaw
Jhye Richardson
Chad Sayers
Steve Smith
Mitch Starc
Marcus Stoinis
AJ Tye
David Warner
Adam Zampa


ODI 1 (Brisbane):
Lineup: Warner, Finch, Marsh, Smith, Maxwell, Carey, Stoinis, Cummins, Starc, Richardson J, Zampa
Kiwis gave debuts to Matt Bacon and Michael Rae
NZ 5/383 (Latham 84, Phillips 77*, Guptill 58, Williamson 57) beat Australia 9/380 (Smith 135, Finch 97, Jamieson 2/48)
Some good bowling by Jamieson as well as Finch losing his wicket at a crucial time caused NZ to nip a close one.

OD1 2 (Adelaide)
Tye replaces Richardson
Santner replaces Rae for NZ
NZ 217 (Guptill 68, Tye 4/15, Maxwell 3.37) lost to Australia 3/218 (Smith 92, Neesham 2/36)
Australia bowled well and Smith then tore apart the Kiwi attack with even Jamieson being pricey.

ODI 3 (Perth)
Both teams unchanged
NZ 7/267 (Latham 107, Neesham 69, Starc 2/39) beat Australia 5/264 (Smith 100, Marsh 80, Bacon 3/52)
The difference in this game was NZ's strategy- they bowled Boult five straight at the start, and five straight at the death, and he protected nine from the final over.

NZ win 2-1
But still, that is our best LO showing since the India game in the WC

 

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India ODIs (In India):
Two changes to the squad- NCN has back spasms and Jhye is out of form. Replaced by Khawaja and Hazlewood.
Aaron Finch (C)
Alex Carey
Pat Cummins
Josh Hazlewood
Usman Khawaja
Shaun Marsh
Glenn Maxwell
Matt Renshaw
Chad Sayers
Steve Smith
Mitch Starc
Marcus Stoinis
AJ Tye
David Warner
Adam Zampa

1st ODI (Delhi):
Unchanged from NZ game 3.
India give a debut to Rinku Singh (as expected), Atit Sheth and Rush Kalaria (oddly).
IND 8/334 (Dhoni 83, Pant 64, Rohit 54) beat Australia 7/325 (Smith 147, Marsh 58, Kalaria 2/52)
This time it was Kalaria and Hardik not Boult and Bacon, but the exact same thing as last game.

2nd ODI (Kolkata):
Aussies unchanged, India bring in Gurender Sing and Kuldeep for Kalaria and Hardik
AUS 206 (Warner 90, Dube 3/40) lost to India 4/206 (Rinku 76*, Dhawan 54, Zampa 2/57)
The Aussies didn't read the pitch right, then chose to target Dube on conditions that suited him. Warner was the lone defier but he couldn't win the game on his own.

3rd ODI (Chennai):
Khawaja replaces Stoinis for Australia while India revert to the Dehli XI with one change: the injured Rohit replaced with Rahul.
India 8/343 (Dhawan 125, Rinku 56, Zampa 2/59) beat Australia 274 (Marsh 63, Smith 53, Warner 53, Kalaria 3/56)

 

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Test Squad for Bangladesh Announced; Mackin, Agar recalled
The Test squad for Bangladesh has been announced. The batting unit is unchanged from the final Kiwi test except for the additions of Renshaw and Ferguson for depth. The bowling unit is different, with three additions. Ashton Agar and Swepson will provide extra spin options while Tremain and Simon Mackin are recalled to be backup seamers. Travis Head has been appointed as interim captain for the tour, which suggests Steve Smith will get the job when his ban expires.
Test Squad:
Travis Head (Interim Captain)
Ashton Agar
Pat Cummins
Callum Ferguson
Cameron green
Peter Handscomb
Marcus Harris
Josh Hazlewood
Marnus Labuschagne
Nathan Lyon
Simon Mackin
Will Pucovski
Matt Renshaw
Steve Smith
Mitchell Starc
Mitch Swepson
Chris Tremain
David Warner

 

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Test Match: vs Bangladesh at Dhaka

With Hazlewood and Cummins undroppable given the conditions, Starc unfortunately makes way for Swepson.
AU lineup: Warner, Harris, Labuschagne, Smith, Head, Handscomb, Green, Cummins, Lyon, Swepson, Hazlewood
AU win the toss and bowl

BAN 1st Innings: 9/440 (Tasamul 158, Shadman 88, Cummins 3/85)
Bangladesh played only with intent of surviving. They lasted 162 overs. Tasamul and Shadman were brilliant. They were struck a hammer blow in the third over of the third new ball though as their best bowler Mustafizur Rahman was hit by Cummins and retired hurt.

AUS 1st Innings: 381 (Warner 99, Head 78, Shakib 4/120)
Labuschagne and Smith failed for Australia and while Warner and Head stood up to replace them, as did Cam Green who fell just short of his first test 50, Australia fell short of a first innings lead.

BAN 2nd Innings: 5/230 dec (Mahmudullah 63*, Shakib 57, Cummins 3/44)
Australia were hurt by Bangladesh again having slow intent this innings as well as Lyon going wicket less.

AUS 2nd Innings: 4/292 (Warner 138, Labuschagne 106, Head 36*)
WHAT A CHASE! Australia played time through the middle session and Warner and Labuschagne established themselves. Then they went full assault mode. Mahmudullah in particular was dealt severe treatement (although he did get Warner) and a T20 innings from Head got Australia across the line with 3 overs to go.

 

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Test Match: vs Bangladesh at Chittagong

One change for the Aussies- Renshaw replaces Harris after a double failure for Marcus.

BAN 1st Innings: 225 (Mushfiqur 51, Green 4/58)
Test best bowling for Cam Green. Of note- Mahmudullah did the same thing as Mustafizur last game.

AUS 1st Innings: 410 (Warner 122, Handscomb 92, Green 85, Head 53, Khaled 4/85)
A brilliant innings for Australia. This time in spite of failures for their two best batsmen, they got a 200 run first innings lead. Handscomb, Green and Warner all played class innings.

BAN 2nd Innings: 1/433 Dec (Sarkar 276, Shadman 144*)
A simply world class exhibition of hitting from Sarkar. While the Aussies were heavily disrupted by five rain breaks and a day and a half being lost to it, Sarkar's 276 (299) was the innings of the series.

AUS 2nd Innings: 1/117 (Marnus 60*, Renshaw 47*)
Australia did what they could in the 2nd innings, and that was get Marnus and Renshaw back into form.

AUS win the series. Regardless of Sarkar's brilliant innings they should have also had the series.

 

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ODIs with South Africa (Mar 20)
Squad: Two changes from last squad- Carey and Renshaw are dropped for Heazlett (who is rumoured to have only missed the plane to Bangladesh due to his weakness against spin) and Bancroft.
Aaron Finch (C)
Cameron Bancroft
Pat Cummins
Josh Hazlewood
Sam Heazlett
Usman Khawaja
Shaun Marsh
Glenn Maxwell
Chad Sayers
Steve Smith
Mitch Starc
Marcus Stoinis
AJ Tye
David Warner
Adam Zampa

ODI 1 (J'burg):
Lineup: Warner, Finch, Marsh, Smith, Maxwell, Bancroft, Stoinis, Cummins, Starc, Zampa, TYe
South Africa 364 (de Kock 103, Jason Smith 86, Tye 4/71) beat Australia 262
Australia's problem: 7 of their batsmen reached 28. None reached 50.

OD1 2: (CT):
Aussies unchanged, Rabada returns at Andile's expense for RSA
AUS 6/227 (Smith 80, Bancroft 62, Potgieter 1/21 (10)) lost to South Africa 0/228 (Malan 139*, de Kock 83*)
Australia had to recover from being effectively 3/10 after Shaun Marsh broke his forearm and this was done well by the middle order; unfortunately the innings stalled towards the end. Unfortunately, the bowlers could not do the same.

ODI 3 (Pretoria):
Heazlett replaces Marsh in the Aussie lineup while Starc is rested for Chad Sayers.
RSA 8/360 (Malan 104, Miller 76, Sayers 3/66) beat AUS 176 (Stoinis 52, Potgieier 4/52)
I hate Janneman Malan and Delano Potgieter

 

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T20Is in South Africa
Cam White, Ben Laughlin, Kane Richardson and Sam Harper have all been rewarded for stellar BBLs with the latter slated to debut for Australia. Finch out injured (as are Marsh and Turner) meaning Maxwell will make his captaincy debut.
Squad:
Glenn Maxwell (C)
Pat Cummins
Sam Harper
Ben Laughlin
Chris Lynn
Kane Richardson
Darcy Short
Steve Smith
Billy Stanlake
Mitch Starc
AJ Tye
Matt Wade
David Warner
Cam White
Adam Zampa

T20i 1 (J'burg):
Lineup: Warner, Short, Lynn, White, Smith, Maxwell, Wade, Starc, Zampa, Tye, Laughlin
AUS 8/132 (Lynn 25, Fortuin 2/21) lost to RSA 2/134 (Miller 64*)
We run out our first 3 wickets, and paid for it.

T20i 2 (Cape Town):
Lineup: Richardson and Harper replace Smith and Tye
RSA 3/214 (Malan 131*, Starc 2/32) beat AUS 7/125 (Harper 58*)
Help, I can't play T20s

T20i 3 (Pretoria):
Cummins and Smith replace Lynn and Zampa.
RSA 7/223 (Verreyne 62, Potgierer 51, Maxwell 2/26) beat AUS 4/190 (Warner 98, Smith 57*)
We've sorted out our batting! Shame about the bowling

 

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T20is in NZ
One squad change, White making way for Finch.

T20i 1 (Wellington):
Australia lineup: Warner, Finch, Smith, Lynn, Short, Harper, Maxwell, Starc, Tye, Cummins, Laughlin
NZ 3/208 (Nicholls 105*) beat AUS 3/124
I found out halfway through this I'd been bowling powerplay fields all 20 overs... oop

T20i 2 (Auckland):
Unchanged
AUS 6/138 (Lynn 52, Boult 2/23) lost to NZ 3/141 (Williamson 74*)

T20i 3 (Christchurch):
NZ 5/180 (Phillips 62) lost to AUS 7/169 (Finch 73)

 

[Bevab]

Excellent series so far! Noticed one thing about the low strike-rates across white ball cricket though..

Wonder if you're doing them ball by ball or over by over? And with what aggression level? I personally do much better with ball by ball and adjusting the aggression levels based on events that happen every over.

 

[ddrap14]

ODI Series vs Zimbabwe:

Squad:
David Warner
Aaron Finch
Steve Smith
Shaun Marsh
Pete Handscomb

Alex Carey

D'Arcy Short
Michael Neser
Glenn Maxwell

Jhye Richardson
Nathan Coulternile
Mitch Starc
Josh Hazlewood
Chadd Sayers

Adam Zampa

Manager Draper has chosen to rest some big names for this series. Most conspicuous is the absence of Stoinis and Cummins. Alex Carey has also been given a chance to reprove himself while Chadd Sayers can build on a promising debut in South Africa.

 

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Australia vs Zimbabwe, First ODI, Perth (14 Jun 20)
Lineup:
Aaron Finch
David Warner
Steve Smith
Shaun Marsh
Peter Handscomb
Glenn Maxwell
Alex Carey
Mitchell Starc
Nathan Coultner-Nile
Jhye Richardson
Chadd Sayers

Australia elected to go with both wicketkeeping options, with Alex Carey being the man with the gloves, while they decided Adam Zampa was not a necessity and elected to go four seamers and Maxwell's spin.

Zimbabwe always seemed shaky. Solomon Mire went almost immediately to deep mid wicket off Richardson. Brian Chari didn't last much longer, yorked by Starc for 8. Ervine nicked behind for 8 too from NCN's first over, before Richardson bowled Raza for 1, leaving ZImbabwe 4/24. Moor and Williams staged a recovery operation, targeting Maxwell, before Sayers had Moor nicking to slip for 23. Williams' counter-attack was ended when Starc returned to the attack in the 22nd over, taking out off stump and ending his innings at 44 from 42. Mavuta was pinned LBW for a duck the next NCN over. Cremer played a few good shots and established a small partnership with Jarvis before he was stumped off Maxwell for 19. Jhye Richardson was recalled to the attack then, and removed Chatara with a great yorker first delivery. The Aussies were thwarted temporarily by the last wicket of Jarvis and Nyauchi before another bowling change yielded a immediate wicket- NCN returned and pinned Jarvis LBW for 18.
ZIM all out 137 (37.2 overs, Williams 44, NCN 3/17, Richardson 3/28)

The low total gave the Aussie openers some freedom. David Warner was immediately yorked, though. Finch played a bad shot in the seventh but by this point Australia needed less than three an over. Alex Carey was promoted to 4 to get some runs back into him, but was LBW for four. Smith and Marsh combined to take Australia to within 26 runs before Smith was stumped. Marsh and Handscomb then took Australia to within four before Marsh tried to end it with one blow and was bowled. Maxwell made a duck before Richardson hit the winning runs.
AUS 6/140 (38.1 overs, Smith 51, Jarvis 4/38)
There were good and bad signs for Australia. The batting didn't use good strategy and gave four wickets to Zimbabwe's best bowler but the bowling was the best performance in a year.

AUS win by 4 wickets. MOTM Jhye Richardson.