Eden Park promises high-scoring spectacle

Eden Park, venue for Saturday's blockbuster Cricket World Cup clash between Australia and New Zealand, is one of the smallest grounds in world cricket, where fast bowlers are edging close to the boundary at the top of their mark.

A chipped shot that lands halfway to the boundary at the MCG will earn batsmen six runs at the Auckland venue, where rugby is the principal sport outside of the summer. The ground's erratically shaped boundaries measure less than 50m behind the bowlers' heads at both ends.

Its straight boundaries are smaller than Christchurch's Hagley Oval and Napier's Seddon Park, and significantly smaller than the Wellington Regional Stadium, where Black Caps skipper Brendon McCullum flayed the England attack to set a new World Cup record for the fastest half century.

Australia last played at Eden Park in 2010, a series Ryan Harris remembered fondly in his exclusive column for cricket.com.au after a match-winning three-wicket haul at the venue.

"I can remember the last time the Australians played against New Zealand at Eden Park it was undergoing renovation and some of the boundaries were so short – there was one where the distance from the pitch to deep backward square leg would have been no more than 55m," wrote Harris.

"We’ve seen that when guys like McCullum, Martin Guptill, Finch, David Warner and Glenn Maxwell get on to a shot they can land it 100m or more, so on these smaller NZ grounds even the mishits can comfortably clear the rope."

New Zealand allrounder Corey Anderson said bowling at the venue could be "daunting", suggesting Australia's unfamiliarity with it could work to the Black Caps' advantage.

"It's a little bit daunting when you're walking back to your mark and you can almost touch the boundary. That's not the nicest feeling as a bowler but as a batter it's nice," Anderson said.

"It could be (an advantage). We're lucky that we've played there a reasonable amount of times and it's been a pretty good hunting ground.

"We'll have our same plans from the last few times we've played there."

Despite the near five year absence, Eden Park the cricket ground does not hold the same demons as Eden Park the rugby venue for touring Australian teams.

Australia's cricketers have won 11 of 16 ODIs there against New Zealand, including four of the last five, although none have been in front of the sold-out crowd of 45,000 anticipated this weekend.

Anderson believes accurate bowling at the death will be crucial because of the short boundaries.

"It's probably a ground where if you miss slightly, you can get taken to," Anderson said.

"Top edges don't go for four, they go for six.

"That's the beauty of our side. We've got a lot of power-hitters and I guess anyone in that top-seven, top-eight, if they're in, can take it deep and go big at the end."

Australia touch down in Auckland

Acutely aware of the compact dimensions, the Australians devoted the last portion of Monday's three-hour training session to six-hitting practice for most of the top-order, a drill that saw security personnel ducking for cover and local glaziers flocking to the precinct.

Anderson says New Zealand's in-form new ball bowlers Tim Southee and Trent Boult will be thoroughly scouted by the Australians.

Likewise, New Zealand will be well-prepared for the extra pace of Mitchell Johnson and Mitchell Starc.

Anderson says facing the two Australian quicks in the Indian Premier League has already given him an insight into what to expect.

"They're nothing unusual to us. They don't have any guys who sort of come out the back of the hand or anything like that. It's pretty normal so we just have to go about our work."