LONDON: Trent Boult became the first New Zealand bowler to claim a hat-trick in the World Cup but it could not stop champions Australia from cruising to an 86-run victory in Saturday’s rematch of the 2015 final between the trans-Tasman rivals at Lord’s.

Boult dismissed Usman Khawaja, Mitchell Starc and Jason Behrendorff in successive deliveries but Australia, who had been reeling at 92-5 in the 22nd over, managed to post a competitive 243-9 after electing to bat.

It turned out that each of Boult’s three hat-trick victims played significant part in Australia’s victory.

Khawaja (88), who was dropped at slip before he could open his account, and Alex Carey (71) had combined to arrest their slide before Bolt (4-51) wrecked their lower order.

Behrendorff then dealt early blows before Starc spearheaded New Zealand’s rout, claiming 5-26 as the Kiwis were shot out for 157 in the 44th over with none of their players managing a half-century.

Australia, who had already secured a place in the semi-finals, remain on top with 14 points from eight matches, three points ahead of India who have played six. New Zealand remain third with 11 points from eight matches.

The Australians bowled with lot of purpose and Behrendorff denied New Zealand a strong start, dismissing both the openers, Henry Nicholls and Guptill, cheaply.

Key batsman Williamson and Ross Taylor (30) tried to steady the innings but the wheels came off their innings after the Kiwi captain’s attempt to play his trademark dab shot resul­ted in his dismissal for 40.

Starc then mowed down the New Zealand lower order to consolidate his position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with 24 victims.

STANDINGS
(Tabulated under played, won, lost, no-result, points, net run-rate):
Australia 8 7 1 0 14 +1.000
India 6 5 0 1 11 +1.160
New Zealand 8 5 2 1 11 +0.572
Pakistan 8 4 3 1 9 -0.792
England 7 4 3 0 8 +1.051
Bangladesh 7 3 3 1 7 -0.133
Sri Lanka 7 2 3 2 6 -1.186
South Africa 8 2 5 1 5 -0.080
West Indies 7 1 5 1 3 +0.320
Afghanistan 8 0 8 0 0 -1.418

Updated after Australia vs New Zealand match on Saturday

Scoreboard

AUSTRALIA:
Batsmen & mode of dismissals R B 4s 6s SR
D.A. Warner c Latham b Ferguson 16 23 3 0 69.56
A.J. Finch lbw b Boult 8 15 1 0 53.33
U.T. Khawaja b Boult 88 129 5 0 68.21
S.P.D. Smith c Guptill b Ferguson 5 8 0 0 62.50
M.P. Stoinis c Latham b Neesham 21 26 3 0 80.76
G.J. Maxwell c and b Neesham 0 5 0 0 0.00
A.T. Carey c Guptill b Williamson 71 72 11 0 98.61
P.J. Cummins not out 23 19 1 0 121.05
M.A. Starc b Boult 0 1 0 0 0.00
J.P. Behrendorff lbw b Boult 0 1 0 0 0.00
N.M. Lyon not out 0 1 0 0 0.00

EXTRAS (LB-4, W-7) 11 — — — —
TOTAL (for nine wkts, 50 overs) 243 — — — —
FALL OF WKTS: 1-15 (Finch, 4.3 ov), 2-38 (Warner, 9.1 ov), 3-46 (smith, 11.2 ov), 4-81 (Stoinis, 19.6 ov), 5-92 (Maxwell, 21.3 ov), 6-199 (Carey, 42.6 ov), 7-243 (Khawaja, 49.3 ov), 8-243 (Starc, 49.4 ov), 9-243 (Behrendorff, 49.5 ov).
BOWLING: Boult 10-1-51-4; de Grandhomme 8-1-29-0 (1w); Ferguson 10-0-49-2; Sodhi 6-0-35-0; Neesham 6-0-28-2 (1nb); Santner 3-0-22-0 (1w); Williamson 7-0-25-1.

NEW ZEALAND:
Batsmen & mode of dismissals R B 4s 6s SR
M.J. Guptill lbw b Behrendorff 20 43 2 0 46.51
H.M. Nicholls c Carey b Behrendorff 8 20 2 0 40.00
K.S. Williamson c Carey b Starc 40 51 2 1 78.43
L.R.P.L. Taylor c Carey b Cummins 30 54 2 0 55.55
T.W.M. Latham c Smith b Starc 14 28 0 0 50.00
C. de Grandhomme c Khawaja b Smith 0 1 0 0 0.00
J.D.S. Neesham c and b Lyon 9 22 0 0 40.90
M.J. Santner c Behrendorff b Starc 12 29 0 1 41.37
I.S. Sodhi lbw b Starc 5 4 1 0 125.00
L.H. Ferguson b Starc 0 3 0 0 0.00
T.A. Boult not out 2 7 0 0 28.57

EXTRAS (B-4, LB-3, W-10) 17 — — — —
TOTAL (all out, 43.4 overs) 157 — — — —
FALL OF WKTS: 1-29 (Nicholls, 9.2 ov), 2-42 (Guptill, 13.1 ov), 3-97 (Williamson, 25.4 ov), 4-118 (Taylor, 31.4 ov), 5-118 (de Grandhomme, 32.1 ov), 6-125 (Latham, 35.3 ov), 7-131 (Neesham, 38.1 ov), 8-141 (Sodhi, 39.6 ov), 9-144 (Ferguson, 41.1 ov), 10-157 (Santner, 43.4 ov).
BOWLING: Behrendorff 9-0-31-2 (3w); Starc 9.4-1-26-5 (4w); Cummins 6-1-14-1; Lyon 10-0-36-1; Smith 2-0-6-1; Finch 1-0-7-0; Stoinis 2-0-12-0; Maxwell 4-0-18-0.

RESULT: Australia won by 86 runs.
UMPIRES: R.K. Illingworth (England) and J.S. Wilson (West Indies).
TV UMPIRE: R.A. Kettleborough (England).
MATCH REFEREE: R.B. Richardson (West Indies).
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Alex Carey.

Published in Dawn, June 30th, 2019