ICC World Cup 2023, AUS vs NZ: Australia post mammoth 388 vs New Zealand

Travis Heads bulldozing hundred and a mangling fifty by David Warner helped Australia survive a middleorder meltdown to post a massive 388 all out against New Zealand in their World Cup match here on SaturdayHead 109 off 67 balls Warner 81 off 65 balls were destructive upfront and the Aussies found steam through some lateorder biffing as Kiwis now will have to mount the highest chase in ODI World CupsAlso ReadICC World Cup 2023 NED vs BAN Heres all you need to knowIt currently stands in the name of Pakistan who chased 345 against Sri Lanka at Hyderabad on October 10Head who replaced Cameron Green in the playing 11 and Warner garnered 175 runs in a mere 191 overs during a thundering opening allianceHead was overaggressive in his partnership with Warner taking on New Zealand bowlers with disdain and it was tough to imagine that this was actually his first match of the tournamentThe lefthander replaced Mitchell Marsh who came in at No 3 at the pole position and never really made Australia felt the absence of the bighitting BisonFortune also favoured Head while cruising to his fourth ODI hundred He was dropped by Mitchell Santner off his own bowling when the batter was on 70 Aussies were 143 for no loss thenFive runs later Glenn Phillips at covers allowed the ball whizz through his hands as Head tried to clatter spinner Rachin RavindraBut those blips apart Head and Warner were super smooth at the crease pulling cutting and driving at will to make runs around the fieldIt has also to be said that the Kiwis bowlers normally a frugal unit under Trent Boult could not hit the right lines on this day and their fielders too remained butterfingered dropping as many as five catchesNew Zealand were also not helped by the absence of pacer Lockie Ferguson who conceded 38 runs in three overs as he left the field with pain in his right AchillesThe two lefthanded batters exploited those lapses and slices of fortune to the hilt In fact Warner reached his fifty in 28 balls and Head his halfcentury in 25 ballsIt was also the second occasion in ODIs when both the openers recorded 50s inside 30 ballsThe Aussie pair of Head and Marsh had done it against India earlier this March at Visakhapatnam in the second ODIWith the openers in overdrive 118 runs cascaded in the first Power Play which contained a total of 10 sixes iquest six by Warner and four by HeadBut the breaks came in after Warners dismissal caught by spinner Phillips off his own bowlingThe spin trio of Phillips Santner and Ravindra stifled the Australian middleorder as the pitch too seemed to have tempered down a bit at this juncturePhillips cleaned up Head with a quicker one while Marsh Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne also fell to the gang of slow men as the Aussies lost four wickets for 74 runs in that periodThe fivetime champions needed some momentum from 274 for five and Glenn Maxwell 41 off 24 balls Josh Inglis 38 off 28 balls and captain Pat Cummins 37 off 14 balls provided thatMaxwell and Inglis milked 62 runs between 444 and 47th overThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever