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An in-from Australia cricket team would look to add more victories in its kitty before playing in the semi-finals as they face New Zealand cricket team in the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 at the historic Lord's Cricket Ground on Saturday. Australia are at the top of ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 Points Table while New Zealand are at the third place. While defending champions Australia is the only team to have booked a semi-final berth, the Kiwis, who are placed third, are a point away from it. The Kane Williamson-led New Zealand side had the best possible start to the showpiece event as they were unbeaten in their initial six games before going down against Pakistan. It is their bowling attack which has performed in every game but their batting looks a bit average.
Check Match 36 (Pak vs Afg) LIVE score, toss updates and match commentary here
Pacer Lockie Ferguson has led their pace attack after bagging 15 wickets from six games. Trent Boult and Colin de Grandhomme have not been amongst wickets, however, they both have handed good support to Ferguson after bowling economically. Boult and Grandhomme have nine and five wickets from six games but they have a decent economy of 4.46 and 4.47, respectively.
The trio will once again need to replicate their show against an in-form Australian top-order.
In batting, the Kiwis have heavily relied on skipper Williamson and Ross Taylor to bail them out. In their game against Pakistan, batting-all-rounder James Neesham also gave a glimpse of how handy he can be with the bat. The Black Caps were once reeling at 46/4 against the Green Brigade before Neesham's 112-ball 97-run valiant knock propelled them to a fighting total.
With 414 runs from five innings, Williamson averages 138 and is at the fifth place in the list of leading run-getters. A lot will depend on him against a lethal Aussie pace attack as their top-order have disappointed so far.
As for Australia, they have shown improvement with every passing game. The Aaron Finch-led side have players who can rescue them out of any tricky situations.
Openers Finch and David Warner have been the Kangaroos' main strength. Both are the two top run-getters in this World Cup. While Warner tops the chart of leading run-getters with 500 runs from seven innings, Finch is just four runs short of him from as many games. As a pair, the duo have given great starts to their side.
The bowling has been fantastic so far as their two pacers -- Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins -- have been brilliant. Starc has 19 wickets from seven games while Cummins has scalped 11 from as many games.
Jason Behrendorff and Nathan Lyon have further added some extra depth in their bowling.
With such match winners, Australia will aim to strengthen their position at the top while the Kiwis will try to forget their dismal show in their last game and get back to the winning mode again.
Overall, after the much anticipated Indo-Pakistan rivalry got over, fans can expect another thriller on Saturday as it will be time for the Trans-Tasmanian rivalry.
New Zealand vs Australia head to head in World Cups
Both the teams have faced each other in 10 matches so far in World Cups and Australia have won 7 while New Zealand have won three.
