Curator expecting fireworks in Canberra

In what must be music to the ears of Aaron Finch and Steve Smith, Manuka Oval staff have predicted fireworks for Australia's second one-dayer on Tuesday against New Zealand.

Traditionally, the Canberra track is a batsman's paradise and head curator Brad van Dam says he expects the pitch to be hard and flat, making it ideal for run scoring.

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The Aussies steamed to victory on Sunday night on the back of Smith's imperious 164 in the Chappell-Hadlee series opener at the SCG.

Smith will be licking his lips at carrying that form onto what's expected to be batting-friendly wicket, and the right-hander can point to a solid record at the venue, having scored 73no and 51 from his two previous ODI appearances at the venue. 

Aaron Finch is another who enjoys the nation's capital; the opening batsman, who scored a first-baller on Sunday in the series opener, is the only Australian to have scored two ODI hundreds at the venue. 

"I think it will be a typical Manuka Oval pitch - nice and flat and hard and lot of runs scored," van Dam said.

"I don't think there will be too much for the spinners. I think they've got to count on the bounce and a bit of variable bounce."

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In the past six one-day internationals at the Canberra ground, the winning score has been above 320 on five occasions.

"You look at the history and there's some big scores there," Black Caps batsman Colin Munro said.

"If we can make some tweaks along the way, we'll go a long way to putting ourselves in a good position."  

Many perceive the boundaries to be small at the 12,000 capacity boutique venue, however van Dam says the ground is the same size as the MCG.

He said many falsely attributed the big scores common at the ground to its size and it had more to do with the type of pitches they prepared.

"The pitches we produce here are very batter-friendly," he added. "A lot of people come here and they think it's a small ground.

"I tell them the actual size and they all can't believe it - it's just because our capacity is not in the 80,000 people mark. The surface in square metreage is the same as the MCG."

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