Aus v NZ World T20 Review: McClenaghan takes New Zealand home

The New Zealand juggernaut kept their World T20 2016 campaign on the roll with an eight-run win over their arch-rivals Australia. While the dryness of the wicket posed a few problems for both sides, the Kiwis appeared to have got the trick absolutely perfect. The torrid and inconsistent run for the Aussies continued as they were blasted out by a complete all-round performance by New Zealand. Therefore, yet another 2 points in the bag as the Kiwis now find themselves not only with virtual qualification to the quarterfinals of the tournament but also with a terrifying momentum. They seem to have earned the favorites tag with the two impressive wins.

New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson won the toss for the second time in the tournament and once again decided to bat first. The uncertainty of the surface did little to overwhelm Kiwi openers Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson and they got the innings off to a flier. Guptill in particular, highlighted his clean striking prowess by whacking a few sixes initially. The duo took advantage of the powerplay as Guptill in particular, took a liking to the Australian bowling attack. However, as they say, you live by the sword and you die by the sword. Martin Guptill was the beneficiary of the aforementioned statement as he attempted a pull off a slower delivery from James Faulkner for a quickfire 39. Despite laying the foundation, Kane Williamson failed to find the meat of the bat in his ill-fated stay at the middle.

An un-wanted shot from the Kiwi skipper mean that Colin Munroe and Corey Anderson were re-united at the middle. With the big hits and the boundaries dried up rather significantly, Munroe knocked the ball around and rotated the strike. However, Corey Anderson’s urge to whack the ball with all his might caused his downfall as he was dismissed without troubling the scorers. With Ross Taylor’s horrific form continuing, Grant Elliot came to the rescue of the Kiwis once again. Despite receiving little or no support from the lower-middle order, Elliot began to tee off. He smashed three boundaries before unfortunately being run out of the last delivery of the innings. James Faulkner was the pick of the Aussie bowlers, concluding with figures of 2/18 in his 3 overs. The New Zealand innings closed at 142/8, a competitive total under difficult circumstances.

In interesting similarity to the New Zealand innings, the Australian innings got off to a flier with Usman Khawaja clearly in the mood. He began stroking Adam Milne, Mitchell McClenaghan and Corey Anderson. Despite Watson taking his time to find his feet, Khawaja blasted the ball to the boundary at will. Watson’s torrid time at the middle came to an abrupt end when he was dismissed by Mitchell McClenaghan. Kane Williamson’s masterstroke of introducing spin early on in the innings paid off when the dangerous Mitch Santner extracted turn and bounce from the dry surface. In a jiffy, two of Australia’s dangerous batsmen Steve Smith and David Warner were removed. Credit went to Santner as he bowled with a set plan to the skipper and his deputy.

Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Marsh led a recovery with neither of them able to pick a way past the tight bowling. Maxwell, in particular, faced numerous problems as he was unable to play his natural game of hoicking and slapping each shot into the fence. The ploy of playing reverse sweeps too failed as he eventually perished attempting a big shot to break the shackles. After two massive sixes, Mitch Marsh too headed back to the dugout courtesy of some McClenaghan magic. The match hung in the balance as Peter Nevill smashed the ball deep into the stands. However, the following deliveries were played along the ground as the Kiwis secured an impressive. Despite spin once again playing a major role, Mitchell McClenaghan’s 3/17 saw him pick up the man of the match award

Brief Scores

New Zealand: 142/8 in 20 overs (Guptill 39; Faulkner 3/18)

Australia: 134/9 in 20 overs (Khawaja 38; McClenaghan 3/17)

Man of the match: Mitchell McClenaghan