Australia vs New Zealand 2019-20: Complete schedule, telecast details and live streaming
Having registered a comfortable series win over Pakistan earlier this month, Australia next face trans-tasman rivals New Zealand in their next home assignment. It’s going to be a 3-match Test series and a vital one for both the teams considering their positions in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) points table.
Australia have played 2 Test series since the World Test Championship kicked off. The first one was the Ashes where they couldn’t collect as many points as they would have liked to as they lost 2 Test matches in the series. The Kangaroos, however, managed to collect full 120 points available from the series against Pakistan and they are now second in the WTC standings with 176 points.
New Zealand began their campaign in the WTC with a 2-match Test series against Sri Lanka in August. While they lost the first game there, they bounced back in the next game with an innings victory and registered 60 points to their name. They are sitting third in the WTC standings at the moment just behind Australia.
The Kiwis also played a Test series against England recently and won it 1-0 with a win and a draw, but that series wasn’t a part of the World Test Championship.
As far as New Zealand’s record in Australia is concerned, they haven’t been able to perform well in Australia in Test match cricket so far. They have played a total of 31 Test matches in Australia and won just 3 of them. They have lost 17, while the remaining 11 have been draws.
The Black Caps have actually struggled against Australia in their own backyard as well. They have lost 14 out of the 26 Test matches they have played against the Kangaroos in New Zealand. This series would be an opportunity for them to not only collect some vital points in the WTC, but also improve their overall stats against Australia in Tests.
Australia vs New Zealand schedule:
First Test: December 12 (Thursday) - December 16 (Monday), 10:30 AM IST, at Perth Stadium, Perth
Second Test: December 26 (Thursday) - December 30 (Monday), 05:30 AM IST, at Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
Third Test: January 03 (Friday) - January 07 (Tuesday), 05:30 AM IST, at Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
Telecast Details
Australia - Channel 7 and Fox Sports
New Zealand - Sky Sports NZ
India, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Nepal and Bangladesh - Sony Six, Sony Six HD
Online streaming - Sony LIV