CWC 2019: NZ v AUS – Trent Boult’s hat-trick restricts Australia to 243 despite Usman Khawaja’s gritty knock

New Zealand had reduced Australia to 92/5 before Khawaja and Carey scripted Australia's comeback.

Usman Khawaj and Alex Carey added 107 runs for the 6th wicket to script Australia's comeback | Getty

New Zealand and Australia are facing each other in the 37th match of ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground.

Opting to bat first, Australia got off to a terrible start as they lost both their in-form openers – Aaron Finch and David Warner cheaply. While Trent Boult dismissed the Aussie skipper for 8, Lockie Ferguson removed Warner for 16.

Steve Smith (5) also failed to make a mark with the bat as he became the second victim of Ferguson. Things went from bad to worse for Australia when Jimmy Neesham got rid of Marcus Stoinis (21) and Glenn Maxwell (1) in successive overs to reduce the defending champions to 92/5.

Afterwards, the story was about Australia’s impressive comeback. The pair of Usman Khawaja and Alex Carey batted sensibly to stitch a 107-run stand for the sixth wicket. Carey was the aggressor in the partnership and scored 71 off 72 balls before getting out to the Kiwi skipper Kane Williamson.

Khawaja, however, remained firm at one end. The southpaw shared a valuable 44-run stand for the seventh wicket with Pat Cummins. Khawaja fell in the last over of the innings to Boult but before that he played a gritty knock of 88 from 129 balls.

Boult didn’t stop there as he sent Mitchell and Jason Behrendorff packing in the next two deliveries and became the first New Zealand bowler to claim a hat-trick in World Cup. The left-armer gave away just two runs in the final over as the Black Caps eventually restricted Australia to 243/9 in 50 overs.  

Brief Scores:

Australia – 243/9 in 50 overs (Usman Khawaja 88, Alex Carey 71) vs New Zealand (Trent Boult 4/51, Jimmy Neesham 2/28)

 
 

By Salman Anjum - 29 Jun, 2019

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