The much awaited series
They come to this series, exposed and vulnerable, especially after another embarrassing home Test series loss to the same nation. They were beaten with bat, ball, in the field and by brilliant captaincy. They surrendered meekly, changed personnel around and won the last match of the series. But are they back to their confident best? The Test and ODI teams are different but the key personnel remain the same.
They are aware that New Zealand have a new look outfit themselves, and arrive after being bruised severely by India in India. They had a Test series against Pakistan after that and won that 2-0 but have they recovered from the series defeat against India? Two teams, bruised and hurt, face off and it looks like an interesting match on paper.
Chance for redemption
This series presents the Aussies with a real chance to assess where their ODI team is in terms of preparation for the Champions Trophy. They also need to assess their personnel, with the squad being shuffled and rotated around too much in the past few series.
They have included Glenn Maxwell, Pat Cummins, James Faulkner and a debutant in Hilton Cartwright for this series. Each of them has a point to prove. Appallingly, they have left out John Hastings, the bowler with most ODI wickets in the World in 2016. He was one of the better bowlers in the preceding two ODI series and one wonders what criteria Australian selectors keep to select teams.
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