Travis Head’s stunning comeback hundred trumped Rachin Ravindra’s second century of the 2023 World Cup as New Zealand went down to their Trans-Tasman rivals by five runs in a nail-biting thriller in Dharamsala. Returning from a hand injury, Head (109) combined with David Warner (81) for a punishing 175-run opening stand and lower-order cameos further propelled Australia to an imposing 388 despite New Zealand’s brief middle-overs recovery courtesy Glenn Phillips’ career-best 3-37. In pursuit of a record total, Ravindra’s well-paced 77-ball ton – New Zealand’s quickest in World Cups – and a James Neesham blitzkrieg kept them in the hunt until the penultimate ball, only for it to end in a heartbreak.
New Zealand’s chase was off to a promising start with Devon Conway leading the way. He went after a wayward Mitchell Starc, as well as the pace of Josh Hzlewoood and Pat Cummins to lay the base with a flurry of boundaries while Will Young took his time to get up to speed. However, a screamer from diving Starc at short fine leg ended Conway’s cameo on 28 off 17. The Hazlewood-Starc combo was at it again when Young nicked an outside edge to short third man, leaving New Zealand at 73/2 after the Powerplay.
Australia managed to cut back the runs a tad with the part-time spin of Glenn Maxwell despite Daryl Mitchell’s attacking intent. He kept the scoreboard ticking and found the odd boundary even as Ravindra didn’t start off at his very best. Using his feet to good effect, Mitchell unsettled Adam Zampa early with a four and six and even welcomed Starc back into the attack with back-to-back boundaries to curb the shooting asking rate. However, after a 42-ball fifty, just as he seemed set to accelerate, Mitchell miscued one to long-on giving the spinner his first wicket and Starc his third catch.
Ravindra stepped up then, bringing up a fourth fifty of the tourney with a six to welcome Starc back into the attack and later meted out similar treatment to Mitch Marsh. Amidst the tall ask, the southpaw responded by taking only 28 more deliveries to convert it into his second World Cup hundred – reaching the milestone with a slog-sweep into deep midwicket stands again.
Even as Ravindra kept the fight going at one end, Australia had managed to break every significant partnership he built at crucial junctures to rob them of a flow. First it was Tom Latham, who top-edged an attempted reverse sweep off Zampa in order to up the ante and later Phillips chipped a regulation catch to mid-off to give Maxwell his only scalp. And just as the youngster’s counterattack seemed to have whittled down the equation to 97 required off the final 10 overs, Cummins returned to lend a crucial blow to New Zealand’s hopes. Ravindra was done in by a slower delivery from the Australia captain that he tried to loft but instead picked out long-off, walking back for a gutsy 116.
Having lost a set batter, Neesham (58 off 39) took centerstage then. He took the attack to the Australian pacers at the death with a few lusty blows, keeping them on their toes and bringing the equation down to a manageable 19 off the final over. More drama ensued when Starc conceded five wides off the second ball to help opposition’s case. But some excellent boundary-line fielding from Australia saved a couple of definite boundaries. Desperate to regain strike, Neesham’s dash for a non-existent second run off the penultimate ball ultimately brought curtains down on New Zealand’s fight.
Put in to bat, Head debuted at the World Cup with a spectacular century to lay the groundwork for Australia’s crucial win. The assault on New Zealand’s wayward bowling with the new ball was from both ends in fact, with the openers posting a 175-run stand in just 19 overs. Head made his intentions clear from the get go – with a four over Trent Boult’s head – and never took his foot off the pedal. He tore into Matt Henry in his second over, with sixes off consecutive balls to put New Zealand under pressure right away. Returning from a fractured left hand, Head got to his fifty in just 25 deliveries – joint fastest this World Cup. He got a life on 70 and 75, and went on to bring up his maiden World Cup hundred in just 59 balls – the third quickest of this edition.
Coming into the game on the back of consecutive centuries, Warner too notched up a brisk 28-ball fifty en route his 81, the highlight of which was a fiery 154kmph thunderbolt from Lockie Ferguson that he effortlessly muscled into the stands. So relentless was the carnage that New Zealand had failed to squeeze in a boundary-less over until the 14th, bowled by Phillips.
Spin in tandem in the middle overs brought some relief for New Zealand, dragging down their scoring rate to single digits. It was Phillips who got the first breakthrough, when Warner offered a straightforward return catch. Once the partnership was broken, New Zealand managed to clip Australia’s wings over the next 10 overs as Phillips bowled an excellent middle-overs’ spell of 3-37. He cleaned up Head on 109 and then had Steve Smith chipping to mid-off in quick succession.
After conceding at more than 10 an over in his first spell, Santner also made a strong comeback in his last spell as he sent back a rather scratchy Mitchell Marsh and Labuschagne in the space of five balls. His figures though, were ruined once again when Maxwell decided to up the ante at death and launched back-to-back sixes. That was the onset of Australia’s death-overs surge, a phase where they picked 109 in the last 11.
Neesham may have struck in his first over and got Maxwell to hole out after a very efficient 41 in 24, but it barely had an impact on Australia’s momentum. Josh Inglis took charge alongside his captain Pat Cummins, and the allrounder was taken to the cleaners with four sixes in the 48th over. Boult’s three-fer in the 49th over kept Australia to under 400 but even that proved a tad too much.
Brief scores: Australia 388 all out in 49.2 overs (Travis Head 109, David Warner 81; Glenn Phillips 3-37) beat New Zealand 383/9 in 50 overs (Rachin Ravindra 116, Jimmy Neesham 58, Daryl Mitchell 54; Adam Zampa 3-74, Josh Hazlewood 2-70) by 5 runs