New Zealand were clean-swept at home in the T20I series after neighbors Australia won a rain-affected third game in Auckland by 27 runs to mark their 100th victory in the format. In a game punctuated by several personnel changes and as many rain interruptions, the visitors scored at a brisk pace to ensure that New Zealand were left facing a gargantuan chase once their target was revised. Matthew Short won the Player of the Match award as Australia beat New Zealand by 27 runs (DLS) to win the 3-match T20I series 3-0.
Eventually, having to get 126 from 10 overs courtesy Matthew Short‘s cameo proved to be a bridge too far for the Black Caps, who managed only 98 in the face of tight Australian bowling.
Australia completed a clean sweep of New Zealand in an ominous warning ahead of the T20 World Cup after a comfortable victory in a truncated series-finale at a gloomy Eden Park.
After being sent in amid overcast conditions, Australia made 67 for 2 in the powerplay before showers interrupted play on several occasions as their innings ended at 118 for 4 from 10.4 overs. Australia’s disciplined pace bowlers then relished the seaming conditions as New Zealand fell well short of their amended target of 126 from 10 overs.
Pitch , Toss and Playing 11.
New Zealand and Australia were set to clash in the third and final T20I of the white-ball series this Sunday, with the showdown scheduled at Auckland’s Eden Park.
With the hosts, New Zealand, trailing 2-0 in the series, they aim to avoid a clean sweep before transitioning to the two-Test matches.
Eden Park is famous for its drop-in pitch known to favour the bowlers. Initially, fast bowlers are expected to exploit significant seam movement, particularly with the new ball. However, as the match progresses, spinners are forecasted to play a more significant role, leveraging the decreasing pace of the pitch.
Mitchell Marsh has been rested and Matthew Short makes a comeback . Matthew Wade will captain Australia today as Spencer Johnson enters in for Josh Hazlewood and . Mitchell Starc also makes a comeback in place of Pat Cummins
New Zealand without services of Conway due to injury in the previous match under Mitchell Santner rested previous match hero Lockie Ferguson and Rachin Ravindra and added Ish Sodhi and Tim Siefert to their squad.
New Zealand won the toss and opt to bowl.
Steve Smith misses out again, Matthew Short provides cameo
Australia, who had Matthew Wade deputizing for the rested captain Mitchell Marsh, maximized the extra lives accorded to them with Head and Matthew Short taking the attack to the opposition. The former hit a hat-trick of boundaries off Trent Boult while Short plundered three sixes and a four off the first nine balls he faced. Sears finally had a catch taken off his bowling when he had Short miscuing an attempted swipe and saw ‘keeper Tim Seifert settle under a swirling catch to end the powerplay on a positive spin for the hosts.
New Zealand’s sloppy fielding rears marshall’s Australia to 118 for 4 after 10.4 overs.
Fiery Johnson grabs his chance as Matthew Short chips in with ball too.
The hosts began earnestly, taking 26 off the first two overs which included an 18-run takedown off off-spinner Short. Australia had also opted to hand out rests to Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood with a view on the upcoming Test series, but with moisture aiding seam movement, Spencer Johnson produced his worth with an excellent third over in which he conceded seven runs for the wicket off Seifert.
Australia truly took control of the game in overs five, six and seven when Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa and Johnson combined to give away just 20 runs when New Zealand needed a little more than 13 runs per over.
New Zealand struggle despite Phillips’ efforts
Presentations and Road Ahead
Matthew Wade winning captain said : Our bowlers were unbelievable, was a clinical bowling performance. The way Short batted, it was fantastic. Everyone is enjoying their cricket. Everyone knows the World Cup’s coming up. We have a good batting line up and the bowlers are doing a good job, it’s nice to see the depth in the side. Credit goes to the support staff for their homework.
This venue, wasn’t a happy hunting ground for us before today, but the bowlers got some help, it was a really good performance.
Mitchell Santner losing captain said : They are a quality side, they showed us the power they posses throughout the series. We showed some good stuff, we can back well with the ball. We couldn’t soak up the pressure with the bat. Dropped catches don’t help either. The depth of the squad is good, we’ll have few guys coming back in. Some good stuff to take from this series, some bad stuff as well.
Matthew Short Player of the Match for 27 runs and 1 wicket said : I am most comfortable while playing shots. Was a strange game with rain around. Played plenty of shots though. It’s such a strong squad, really grateful to play with these guys. Enjoyed batting, but I was nervous with the ball towards the end.
Mitchell Marsh was the player of the series said : Nice to contribute to the winning team, nice to win a series in New Zealand. It was a fantastic effort to win 3-0. Our coaching staff, the group makes the job easy. It’s a great bunch. Any series you win, playing for your country is fantastic. They are an outstanding unit NZ. Johnson bowled well today, everyone is grabbing their opportunities.
A comfortable victory for Australia who clinch the series by a 3-0 margin. They won the first T20I as David played a blinder towards the end, while they registered a clinical win in the second T20I. Coming into the third clash, New Zealand were expected to get a consolation win, but the visitors were relentless once again. Having been put in to bat first, the Australian batters – especially Maxwell and Short, they played cameos, while Travis Head chipped in with a handy contribution as Australia finished with a pretty good total despite multiple rain delays.
The revised target for NZ was 126 in 10 overs, and the hosts couldn’t really get going in the run chase. Young and Phillips struck a few boundaries, but Australia kept taking wickets at regular intervals, bowled plenty of dot balls and defended the total nonchalantly. Johnson was the pick of the bowlers as he got a wicket and his economy was really impressive as well. So was Nathan Ellis who bowled a couple of excellent overs. A team effort by the Australians across all three games and they deserved to win as they were clearly the better side.
So the T20I series belonged to the Aussies and we now move on to the longer format. The Blackcaps will lock horns with Australia in a 2-match Test series starting February 29th.