Opening Match Comes Down to the Wire
The two rival sides began their series on Wednesday in Wellington with New Zealand batting first.
The batsmen for the Black Caps had quite a day, putting through 215 runs as Australia allowed 200 or more for their fourth straight T20 match.
Finn Allen and Devon Conway were the first men to grace the centre of the pitch for the Black Caps and they got to work right away.
The pair were able to work their way to a 61-run partnership before Australia claimed their first wicket. Allen was the culprit as off a Mitchell Starc bowl he mistimed his swing and popped the ball up to be caught by David Warner.
Rachin Ravindra then joined Conway in the middle where the pair would stay for a while. Australia threw out their pace bowlers and spin bowlers looking for any way to gain an edge but they were unsuccessful.
Ravindra smacked 68 off just 35 balls before he popped one up to deep square leg off a Pat Cummins bowl. Mitchell Starc found the ball in the air and made the catch for the out.
Without putting any more runs on the board Conway was also caught out by Starc, this time off a Mitchell Marsh bowl. He finished with 63 and his team sitting on 3/174.
With just four overs remaining, Glenn Phillips and Mark Chapman did a solid job at tacking on extra runs.
Phillips went for 19 on 10 balls while Chapman put through 18 on 13 balls as the Black Caps bats finished with 3/215.
Australia’s chase had a much more committee like approach as they sent six men to bat all of whom contributed 20+ runs.
The men who did the most damage however were Mitchell Marsh and Tim David. Marsh finished not out with 72 on 44 balls and was a thorn in the side of the New Zealand bowlers from the third over to the match’s end.
David came in much later at the end of the 16th over but certainly made his presence felt. The Aussies were at 172 when he began batting with Marsh and the match looked to be in favour of New Zealand.
However, David began pounding the ball and the duo slowly inched towards the 216 needed. It all came down to the final ball of the innings with Australia at 212.
David sent a Tim Southee bowl through the defense for a four and the win in one of the most exhilarating finishes you will see.
Australian Bats Faulter in Match Two
The second match was a very different story as Australia batted first and were unable to recreate the heroics of the previous day.
Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, and Pat Cummins were the only men that scored 20 or more runs as they were only able to reach 174 all out.
What had started as a promising innings with the Aussies jumping to 2/103 in just eight overs had quickly crumbled into a very attainable chase for New Zealand.
Superb Bowling Saves the Day
The Black Caps bats never really seemed set to threaten the Aussie number.
Their top three batters combined for just 18 runs and other than Glenn Phillips’ 42, the rest of the order was unable to do much damage.
Adam Zampa was terrific, leading the way for the Aussie bowlers with four wickets in the win as they held the Black Caps to just 102 all out.
