Australia's Predicted XI vs New Zealand, Cricket World Cup 2023: Will Travis Head Make The Cut?

Five-time champions Australia will face New Zealand in Match 27 of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023. The match will be played at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala on Saturday. Australia found themselves in a spot of bother early on in the tournament with two consecutive defeats to begin their tournament, but they are now on course with three big wins on the trot. It all began with a hard-fought win against Sri Lanka, where they had their moments of struggle but emerged triumphant.

They followed it up with a blistering batting performance against Pakistan and Netherlands. David Warner scored centuries in both these games to put Australia in the driver's seat, while Mitchell Marsh scored his second ODI ton against Pakistan and Glenn Maxwell broke the record for the fastest century in World Cup cricket against the Netherlands.

Australia's 309-run win against the Dutch is now the biggest win in World Cup history and the second-biggest win of all time in the format. This also boosted their net run rate significantly and in pursuit of a top-four spot, the Aussies currently find themselves in a very good position.

New Zealand's incredible start to the tournament was curbed by a defeat to hosts India in Dharamsala. Now, the Kiwis have an opportunity to fight back and return to winning ways at the same venue, but the path will not be smooth sailing. So far, New Zealand have picked up four wins - against England, Netherlands, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

Here's our predicted XI of Australia for this Trans-Tasman encounter

Openers: David Warner, Mitchell Marsh

David Warner is among the leading run-scorers in the ongoing tournament, scoring 332 runs in five matches. This tally includes two centuries, which have come in the last