Australian player including Australia's Mitchell Starc, right check on New Zealand's Mitchell Santner after he was hit by a short ball from Starc during the Cricket World Cup. Photo / AP
Australian player including Australia's Mitchell Starc, right check on New Zealand's Mitchell Santner after he was hit by a short ball from Starc during the Cricket World Cup. Photo / AP
The Aussie and UK media were quick to criticise the Black Caps after this morning's 86-run World Cup loss to Australia. Here's the most eye-catching coverage.
"Be afraid, England and Wales 2019. The Aussies are coming. Or rather, the Aussies are still coming, after an 86-run defeat of a New Zealand team who seemed consumed by the occasion at Lord's.
"At times in the Black Caps' attempts to chase 243 this felt a bit like a Sunday morning junior age group game. Steve Smith sent down some weird, wonky all-sorts. Wickets were greeted with jokey huddles. It took the return of Mitchell Starc to restore a sense of World Cup order, figures of five for 26 reflecting a spell of brutal, high-grade, white-ball fast-bowling that blew away the tail.
"On a sun-baked north London day New Zealand had first shown how to beat Australia; then almost immediately they showed how to fail to beat Australia. Exposing that thin-looking middle order had always looked a plan. Failing to punch through by taking off your best bowlers was where the game got away, captured by the sight of the skipper wheeling out seven overs of mid-innings part-time leg-spin.
"Trent Boult even had time at the end of Australia's innings to conjure a largely pointless World Cup hat-trick. Instead it was a gutsy, occasionally streaky 107-run sixth-wicket partnership between Usman Khawaja and Alex Carey that decided this game.''
I can cope with seeing the Black Caps lose to Australia, but it’s just the sheer meekness of this capitulation that galls #AUSvsNZ
Australia's Jason Behrendorff, second right, celebrates with teammates after taking the wicket of New Zealand's Henry Nicholls caught by Australia's Alex Carey. Photo / AP
"They were far too subdued for their own good and left many bewildered by their perplexing tactics, where they finished with 172 dot balls from 262 deliveries faced.
"When they began to hit out late in the innings, former captain Jeremy Coney, now a BBC commentator, said: "If they wanted to play the big shots, why not play it much earlier?"
"It was obvious at that point (when Steve Smith took a flying catch to remove Tom Latham) that the biggest turnaround in world sport was about to roll on. The planet has awoken to the fact that Australia is on course for a sixth World Cup.
"Gone are the doubters who couldn't see captain Aaron Finch celebrating on that balcony on July 14, lifting the trophy.
"But rewind just five months and you would've been laughed at for suggesting that.
"This team had lost 22 out of 26 ODIs and was a mess. Langer's boys were world cricket's 50-over cricket's comedy act.Since then Australia has won 15 out of 16 ODIs, and 20 out of 22 matches when you count the warm ups.
"They sit on top of the World Cup table with a 7-1 record and will enter an eighth semi-final with a 7-0 record."
"A 107-run sixth wicket partnership started the Australian revival, before a limp New Zealand batting performance consigned the Black Caps to an 86-run defeat at Lord's – a result which doesn't inspire positivity for their Cricket World Cup chances.
"It's unlikely to seriously impact their prospects of making the semifinals, but, with a semifinal showdown against Australia still the Black Caps' most likely outcome, you have to wonder – if they can't beat Australia after routing their top order, then when can they do it?"
"A glorious day at the home of cricket contrasts the gloom enveloping New Zealand's World Cup prospects.
"London turned on a scorching summer's day for the first Lord's meeting between Australia and New Zealand.
"Unfortunately the Black Caps could not rise for the occasion, delivering an anticlimax on the grand stage.
"New Zealand had Australia on the rack early, wilting in the searing heat at 92-5. It did not last, though, such a start proving a misleading teaser rather than offering any fact-based evidence they belong among this tournament's true contenders."
⚡️HAT-TRICK FOR BOULT! ⚡️ 🏏Khawaja - Starc - Behrendorff 🏏 The third wicket an LBW that went upstairs but was OUT! What a final over from Trent Boult! His second ODI hat-trick and first at the @cricketworldcup! 🇦🇺 243/9 | 50 overs #CWC19#BACKTHEBLACKCAPSpic.twitter.com/WrtzN2eRyf
Under the headline 'Australia thrash New Zealand in World Cup humiliation', Andrew McMurty from News.com said "it was all one way traffic as Australia rolled through the brittle Kiwi line up."
The Alternative Commentary Collective are podcasting their way through the World Cup. Known for their unconventional sports analysis and off-kilter banter, the ACC have come to ask the tough questions. Here's the latest episode of 'The Agenda':
