(Cricket news) While the Kiwis suffered their first loss of the competition last Sunday against India, they are still holding firm in third place. Australia, after a slow start to the competition, has improved significantly, winning three straight games to secure their position at number four in the points table.

The Australians’ World Cup campaign started off with back-to-back defeats; they lost badly to South Africa a few days later after suffering a crushing defeat to tournament favourites India in the competition’s opening match in Chennai.

Australia was struggling around the bottom of the standings at the time, but they have since demonstrated why they are a force to be reckoned with as they have won three straight and appear to be peaking at the ideal time.

In their most recent game, the Baggy Greens threw caution to the wind and defeated the Netherlands by an innings, 309 to be exact. It was the biggest margin of victory in World Cup history, and it also improved their net run rate to +1.142.

While other batsmen like Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, and Mitchell Marsh have also made major contributions at different times, David Warner has recently found form, striking his second century of the tournament against the Netherlands.

Along with the return to form of legspinner Adam Zampa, who has surged to the top of the competition’s wicket-takers list with three straight four-wicket hauls, the pace-bowling combination of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood has also been threatening again.

As for New Zealand, who were leading the rankings until the end of last week. However, after losing to India and South Africa easily defeating Bangladesh, they are now ranked third.

Not that they need fear just yet, though, as they still have four games left and eight points, which puts them in a strong position going into the final parts of the round-robin games thanks to their excellent net run rate of +1.481.

With most of their batsmen producing steady performances and players like Mitchell Santner and Matt Henry among the top five wicket-takers in the league thus far, the Black Caps have been remarkably successful in all areas of the game.

For most of the match, the Kiwis were competitive with India, but the host country’s strong bowling lineup held them to just 273, a total that the Indians chased down with four wickets and twelve balls remaining.

Notwithstanding that outcome, the Kiwis will not let it stop them and will quietly be optimistic about their chances of winning this match against an Australian team that has already demonstrated that they are capable of the odd collapse in this competition.

Marsh should again partner with Warner at the top of the order after missing out in the previous game against the Netherlands. Josh Inglis, Smith, and Labuschagne will cover for Marsh in the middle of the order.

In the most recent encounter, Glenn Maxwell demonstrated why he is among the most lethal players in the game by scoring 106 runs in just 44 balls. It is highly likely that he will stay at number six.

Both Daryl Mitchell and Rachin Ravindra produced impressive scores of 130 and 75 off 127 balls, respectively, against India. It is anticipated that both players would perform well in the top order once more.

After taking 2/63 in the previous game, Lockie Ferguson will probably be handed the new ball once more. Meanwhile, Santner and Henry will be attempting to add to their respective tournament totals of 12 and 10 wickets.
Also read: South Africa escaped a narrow scare as they beat Pakistan by one wicket