New Zealand won’t lack for motivation to take Australia down a peg in Test cricket but they also have the added carrot of World Test Championship points being on the line.
New Zealand v Australia – First Test
29 February – 4 March 2024
Basin Reserve, Wellington
The Black Caps will feel they dropped points in Bangladesh earlier this season while Australia slipped up at home against the West Indies.
New Zealand and Australia can improve their standings in the World Test Championship when the series gets underway at the Basin Reserve. The ground has been a happy hunting ground for Australia who secured an innings win on their last visit.
To Win Match
New Zealand 33/10 | Draw 4/1 | Australia 47/100
New Zealand will welcome back star man Daryll Mitchell but Henry Nicholls remains a long-term absence that might be felt acutely in this series.
Kane Williamson scored a double hundred against Sri Lanka on his last visit to the Basin Reserve in Test cricket and has also recently gone big against the touring South Africans.
Mitchell Santner might only come into the game later in the Test but his experience will be of huge value to the side who have several players with loads of Tests behind them.
One of those is skipper Tim Southee who is steady with the ball but will likely look to Matt Henry to be the strike bowler early on.
Australia have the opening batter question to answer on this tour with possible candidates to replace David Warner including Matt Renshaw and Cameron Green.
The tourists could field two seam-bowling all-rounders with Green and Mitchell Marsh making the trip.
New Zealand will be wary of the many threats posed by the tourists’ bowling attack but could be having sleepless nights over the prospect of facing Pat Cummins, who has been in sublime form across their home summer.
Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon look set to complete the lineup of specialist bowlers in both Green and Marsh are picked in the top seven.
Verdict: Australia 47/100
New Zealand haven’t beaten Australia at home since the early 1990s and that run probably won’t end soon.
