Cricket World Cup: Real test for Aussies

Australia bowler Mitchell Johnson during yesterday's team training session at Eden Park. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Warner and Finch face Southee and Boult in the most eagerly awaited match on home soil for two decades.

It's a match-up for the ages within a match for the ages.

New Zealand's Tim Southee and Trent Boult will be on one side, armed with shiny white missiles; David Warner and Aaron Finch countering with oversized clefts of willow.

Whichever pairing comes out on top on Saturday at Eden Park - the most eagerly awaited match on home soil for two decades - will have gone a long way towards setting their side up for victory.

"Their bowling at the top of the innings has been outstanding with Southee and Trent Boult... so myself and Davey Warner are going to have to play as well as we can to negate them," Finch said.

There is no shortage of pedigree and form on display. Southee's seven-for-33 against England on Friday was the bowling performance of the tournament, while Finch's 135 on the first day of the World Cup set his side up for a massive score, 342, and a big win.

"To be able to contribute towards a good total and help set up the back end of our innings ... was really pleasing from my point of view," he said.

As good as James Anderson and Stuart Broad have been in the past, Australia would be the first team to acknowledge that the New Zealand attack has a sharper arsenal, particularly in home conditions where the ball swings for a little longer than across the Tasman, and in Southee a man on top of his game.

"He bowled beautifully," Finch said of Southee's haul of 7-33. "When you pitch it up and swing it like that with the new ball, it's a huge factor.

"Some days you swing it around corners and too far to get a nick. Everything went his way the other day and he bowled beautifully. He's another bloke ... we have to be wary of and hopefully get on top of him early. If not, you just play it on its merits.

"It's swing bowling, we've all faced it before, but the high pressure of a World Cup can make you do funny things."

One factor that could play into the batsmen's hands is Eden Park's super-short straight boundaries. Given that a checked-drive has every chance of sailing for six, bowlers tend to go shorter at the venue and challenge the batsmen to find the long square boundaries.

"Both teams can swing the ball at the top of the innings with the two new balls. That's a strength of both sides, so if they go short it's a bonus if it's swinging," Finch said.

The other names high on Australia's planning whiteboard are Kane Williamson and destructive skipper Brendon McCullum.

"Kane Williamson [is] batting beautifully," Finch said. "He sets up their innings and they can bat around him. Brendon is a damaging player who can take a game away from you if you bowl poorly to him in the first 10 overs."

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