T20 World Cup: Australia win toss, opt to bowl first against New Zealand

Sydney: Australia captain Aaron Finch won the toss and opted to bowl first against New Zealand in Sydney. The Aussie skipper said his decision was influenced by the forecast of rain and also that he thinks the pitch will get better (for batting) as the game progresses. New Zealand captain Kane Williamson said he would have bowled first as well citing the same reasons as his Australian counterpart.

The moment is finally here when the world will witness the beginning of an extravagant cricket event known as the T20 World Cup. This time the action gets underway Down Under and the first game of the Super12 round will see defending champions and hosts, Australia, taking on trans-Tasman rivals – New Zealand. Almost 12 months ago, these two teams fought for the trophy in the final of the T20 World Cup 2021. The Aaron Finch-led side emerged victorious and won the title for the first time.

Australia and New Zealand will be up against each other and the game will present a tentative route map of how the tournament will pan out. The defending champions will enter the contest on the back of three consecutive defeats – 2 at the hands of England and 1 against India in the warm-up game. They have the personnel to defend the title in the likes of Matthew Wade, Josh



Hazlewood, Adam Zampa, Tim David and David Warner. One would hope that the tantalizing clash won’t have any rain disruption come Saturday.

New Zealand, last year’s runners-up, enter the competition with some mixed results behind them. After winning a three-match away T20I series against the West Indies 2-1, New Zealand were the runners-up in the recent tri-series at home, winning against Bangladesh twice and once against Pakistan, before losing to them in the final.

They will be missing out on Daryl Mitchell for the opening match, due to him still being on path to recovery from broken finger. Fast bowlers Lockie Ferguson and Adam Milne were also managed carefully due to them coming back from injuries apart from New Zealand not having won a match in Australia since 2011.

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