Australia takes on New Zealand in a three-match T20I series starting with the first T20I in Wellington. The match starts at 11.40 am IST which is 7.10 pm local time. Australia are heading into this series on the back of a T20I series win against West Indies earlier this month.
Glenn Maxwell scored his fifth T20I ton in the series against the Windies and now stands as the only batter with five T20I centuries in the format.
Heading into this series, they are ranked fourth in the ICC T20I rankings. They will be led by Mitchell Marsh and have a few injury concerns. The squad misses the likes of Marcus Stoinis, and Aaron Hardie due to injury concerns.
Spencer Johnson was named as Harie’s replacement who was named the replace for Marcus Stoinis. However, the Aussie all-rounder injured himself in a Sheffield Shield game.
Aussie selectors have picked a full-strength side for the series ahead of the T20 World Cup in June. When the squad for New Zealand was announced before the three T20s against West Indies, National Selection Panel chair George Bailey said the games would play a part in their selection for the World Cup.
Also Read: New Zealand squad for Australia Tests announced, Daryl Mitchell returns
The squad sees the return of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, and also Nathan Ellis who missed the series against West Indies due to a rib injury. The players will take this series as an opportunity to show their potential for the T20 World Cup. In this article, we predict Australia’s playing XI for the first T20I.
Australia Playing 11 vs New Zealand, 1st T20I, 2024
David Warner
Travis Head
Head has returned to the T20I side for this series and should open the batting with Warner. He has not played too many games since Australia’s victorious World Cup campaign and rested in the series against West Indies too.
Mitchell Marsh (C)
Marsh opened the batting with Warner against West Indies but can slot in at three for this series. He is still very fresh as an international captain and is expected to be tested against the Kiwis.
Steve Smith
Smith is a part of this series as well. He was rested from the West Indies series. The senior batter can bat at four show his might with the bat and make a case for his T20 World Cup selection. He has played a fair bit of T20 cricket since the ODI World Cup.
Glenn Maxwell
Glenn Maxwell can slot in at five. He scored his fifth T20I ton in the second T20I against West Indies and ended with 142 runs in the series at a strike rate of 184.42. Maxwell is also 10 short of 50 T20I wickets which he can get to in this series.
Tim David
David the big-hitter can slot in at six. After playing the series against West Indies he flew back to the UAE to play in the ILT20 for the MI Emirates and is back again to play the series against New Zealand.
Matthew Wade (WK)
Wade will be the specialist wicketkeeper. He has been the favored keeper in the T20I format. Alex Carey has been favored in Test and ODI cricket. He has played 83 matches and closing in on 1500 runs.
Pat Cummins
Cummins will bat at eight and lengthen the batting order. He was rested from the series against West Indies but is back for this series as the selectors are looking to fine-tune their squads. He has picked up 55 wickets from 50 matches.
Mitchell Starc
Starc too has returned for this series after being rested from the series against West Indies. He has picked up 73 wickets from 58 T20Is and does not play the format regularly.
Nathan Ellis
Ellis should play the first match ahead of Jos Hazlewood after the bowler was ruled out from the T20I series against West Indies. He was ruled out due to a rib injury but has now returned fit.
Adam Zampa
Zampa concludes Australia’s likely playing XI. The Aussie spinner is 13 short of 100 T20I wickets and can get to that if he has a good series with the ball. He has picked up 87 wickets from 77 T20Is.
Also Read: Aaron Hardie ruled out of T20I series against New Zealand, replacement announced
