ICC World Cup 2023, AUS vs NZ: Head 100 helps AUS scrape Ravindra powered NZ

Travis Heads bulldozing hundred and game awareness in crunch moments helped Australia negate a marvellous century by Rachin Ravindra to register a thrilling fiverun victory over New Zealand in their World Cup match here on SaturdayThe destruction of Head 109 off 67 balls and his opening partner David Warner 81 off 65 balls during their 175run alliance upfront gelled well with some lateorder biffing as Aussies overcame a middleorder meltdown to post 388 all out after they were put into batRavindra made a sparkling 116 off 89 balls and James Neesham a manic 39ball 58 but the Kiwis could only manage 383 to suffer their second successive defeat in the tournamentThe cumulative score of 771 posted by the two teams is highest aggregate score in a World Cup game surpassing 754 collectively notched up by South Africa 428 and Sri Lanka 326 in New Delhi on October 7 in this very eventAlso ReadICC World Cup 2023 IND vs ENG Will Jos be able to solve India riddleWith this win Australia have eight points from six matches same as New Zealand and they are firmly entrenched at No 4 at this pointBut that position did not come without its moments of scares Ravindra gave them the biggest of them all with an innings that belied his tender age of 23The lefthander does not have a big frame but what he does have is immense timing that allows him to send the ball miles into the stands when requiredPat Cummins will vouch for that Ravindra picked up a length ball outside the offstump from the pacer to cart it over the covers for a six and it was a stunnerHis batting is easy on the eyes as well good enough backlift and a flowing followthrough make him a good addition to the elegant lefthanders clubBut those technicalities aside his temperament too should be patted as Ravindra batted without even an iota of pressure against a set of battlehardened AussiesThe Wellington lad who was dropped on 100 by Glenn Maxwell off his own bowling also pieced together good stands with fellow opener Devon Conway 61 96 with Darryl Mitchell 54 for the third wicket and 54 with Tom Latham 21 for the fourth wicketRavindra reached his hundred off 77 balls with a fine six off Maxwell over deep midwicket It was his second hundred in this WC after the one in the tournament opener against England at AhmedabadHe also joined Kane Williamson Martin Guptill and Glenn Turner as the only Kiwi batters to have scored two hundreds in the World CupBut all that ended when Ravindra gave a catch to Maxwell at deep off CumminsNeesham did try his best to take Black Caps home with a breezy fifty but some limbforgetting fielding by the Aussies on a dodgy HPCA stadium outfield in the last few overs denied Kiwis a remarkable winAustralia especially Marnus Labuschagne were quite exceptional in that phase and they even had to field with five fielders inside the ring in the final over for slow over rateBut they summoned every ounce of experience and athleticism to emerge on the right side of the resultEarlier Head who replaced Cameron Green in the playing 11 and Warner garnered 175 runs in a mere 191 oversHead 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 Head was dropped by Mitchell Santner off his own bowling when the batter was on 70Five runs later Glenn Phillips at covers allowed the ball whizz through his hands as Head tried to clatter spinner RavindraBut those blips apart Head and Warner were super smooth pulling cutting and driving at will to make runs around the fieldBut the Kiwis bowlers normally a frugal unit under Trent Boult could not hit the right lines and their fielders too were butterfingered dropping 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 lefthanders 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 ballsWith 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 bowling The spin trio of Phillips Santner and Ravindra stifled the Australian middleorderPhillips cleaned up Head with a quicker one while Marsh Steve Smith and Labuschagne also fell to the gang of slow men as the Aussies lost four wickets for 74 runs in that periodAustralia needed some momentum from 274 for five and Maxwell 41 off 24 balls Josh Inglis 38 off 28 balls and captain Cummins 37 off 14 balls provided thatMaxwell and Inglis made 62 runs between 444 and 47th over which in the end proved the difference But only by justThis 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