Australia vs New Zealand, 37th match at London, , Jun 29 2019 - Ball by Ball Commentary

9.10pm Pakistan snuck in a thriller against Afghanistan, and this big win for Australia now means this is how the top four looks. For the moment, this is Debayan Sen saying goodnight on behalf of Alagappan Muthu and Chandan Duorah. England versus India in a few hours from now. Be there or be square, good folks. Tata...

Aaron Finch: "From 5 for 92, a great partnership from Alex Carey and Usman Khawaja on a wicket we knew would turn. I think it was important that we got some time in the middle, but not in the way we did. It was a difficult wicket to start on, and the way Alex came in and hit the ball was excellent. It was not easy to time the ball. (On bowling) You try to be some flexible and pitch some overs from part-timers in the middle. We have seen the value of wickets between overs 20-40. (de Grandhomme wicket) Yeah, there's been some discussion between JL, Smudgie and myself - great that it worked out."

Kane Williamson: "It was a fairly challenging surface. If you were willing to hit the wicket hard, there was something in it, and there was some up-and-down bounce as well. Lots of spin as well, and a lot of credit for the way they rebuilt their innings and got to a competitive total. Obviously, we were trying to get the matchups. I probably bowled a bit more than I should have, with the left-handers in the middle. Throughout the innings, we thought we had them under control, but Carey took the game away with a brilliant partnership. Some big lads hit the wicket hard and got something out of it. What we needed was one major 100+ partnership where we could soak up some pressure and turn the momentum our way. It wasn't to be today, and we have to pick ourselves up and move on. (For England) I guess we have to look at the surface and make the right decisions. We have an extra day off, and it would be nice to freshen up a little bit. The wickets haven't been what a lot of people thought - they are perhaps tired."

9.02pm Mohan: "If England goes through NZ will be the fourth team else Pakistan will be fourth. NZ's big wins against weak teams are helping them out." --- By all accounts, tomorrow sounds like it will be England versus Rest of the World. At least in terms of supporters?

9.00pm Rivlud: "It's a batsmen game when a high quality bowler like Mitchell Starc takes a 5 for and get's beaten to the MoM award, what a joke!" --- I would agree on most days. Today's game was pretty much impacted by Carey's batting. It just took New Zealand far away from the position of strength they found themselves in with the ball early on

Alex Carey is the player of the match, tells Simon Doull: "It wasn't the start we wanted. Uzi (Khawaja) was out there and for me it was to assess the conditions. There was lots of time to bat. It did play a little on the slower side, and they were bowling really well. I stuck to my strengths, to drive when it wasn't short. Credit to Usman Khawaja as well, and Starc with the bowler. I really enjoy my batting. Ideally in the last 10 overs, but I don't mind opportunities like this. (On the steepling catch) It was important to hold on to that, the blue skies don't help, and Ross (Taylor) was batting really well. We have to move to Manchester and play really well too."

Starc is the first bowler with three five-wicket hauls in World Cups

8.55pm New Zealand made the first cuts in this contest, especially with the new ball. There was turn on offer for Mitch Santner, and even Kane Williamson did pretty well with the ball. But the doggedness of Usman Khawaja and the enterprise of Alex Carey helped Australia post 243, which we thought would be a challenging total. It proves to be more than enough, as Australia never allowed New Zealand to get away at all. A scratchy innings from Kane Williamson in an otherwise dismal batting effort from the erstwhile league table toppers here at CWC19. They still need some work to do to qualify

Purnima : "How badly would this margin of defeat would detoirate NZ's run rate? Would they be out of semi final contention because of it?" --- Definitely hurts their chances, but that is dependent on tomorrow's result

"England's NRR dream ebbs with every slog," quips Andrew Miller

Phoenix99: "I may be roasted by my countrymen, but I feel this Australian team if reaches the final can be a tough one to beat and may bring back the sad memories of 2003 final. Because their strength lies in their mental fortitude which is becoming stronger with each passing day."

Lyon's final over

Nitish: "Ferguson was Starc's 44th Wicket in world cups from just 16 matches !! Only five bowlers are ahead of him now-- Vaas, Malinga, Wasim Akram, Murali and McGrath !!" --- Terrific numbers for someone who's still got some years to go, one would think

WATCH - Neesham top-edges a sweep off Lyon (Australia, UK and SEA only)

Yasir: "Sukrit took 1000 words to find 3 similarities between 2003 n 2019."

Two slips in place for Boult as he walked in. One of them moves to leg slip

Starc is on a hat-trick as well. One left-armer already has one for the day...and it is Trent Boult who now faces

KedarKshirsagar: "A suggestion if you are open to it. You should make the run and ball remaining equation as part of the header so that it always shows even when we scroll down to check earlier commentery." --- For the moment, it's 100 required off 54

Sukrit Gupta: "@Prashant, I agree with you. There are a lot of parallels between 2003 and 2019, with the roles seem to be reversed between Ind and Aus. What Sachin did for Ind in '03, Finch/Warner are doing it here for Aus. In '03 when ever Aus batting faltered, their bowlers decimated the opposition. The same is being done by Indian Bowlers here. IN '03 Aus were a ruthless unbeatable force and Ind were the second best, here Ind have been unbeatable and ruthless and Aus so far have been second best. "