Australia vs New Zealand 1st ODI- 5 Talking Points

Australia made a good comeback in the 1st ODI against New Zealand at Sydney winning the match by 68 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the 3-match series. It was a thoroughly professional performance by the hosts in all the departments of the game.

Winning the toss and batting first Australia received early jolts as they lost their openers, Aaron Finch and David Warner, rather cheaply. Two more wickets fell within a short span of time as Australia was reduced to 92/4. Captain Steve Smith played a stupendous innings of 164 and was ably supported by Travis Head as the duo stitched together a 127-run partnership for the 5th wicket to bail the hosts out of the precarious situation.

Chasing 325 to win, the visitors were in the match for the majority of the innings especially until opener Martin Guptill was going great guns. After the fall of Guptill’s wicket, it was rather an uphill task for the visitors as they fell 68 runs short of the Australian total despite the valiant effort from Colin Munro and Matt Henry lower down the order. Here we look at 5 talking points from the 1st ODI at Sydney:

1. Steve Smith’s magnificent 164 of 157 balls:

Captain Steven Smith was at his imperious best during the 1st ODI and plundered the Kiwis bowlers all around the park. Courtesy his brilliant innings, Australia piled on the agony on the Black Caps and eventually finished their innings at 324/8 in their allotted 50 overs.

Coming at the fall of Aaron Finch’s wicket, the star batsman went on to register the highest individual score at the SCG surpassing Mr.360 AB de Villiers. It was also his career-best score and was ably supported by Travis Head and Matthew Wade as the visitors paid a huge price for their sloppy work in the field.

Smith was earlier dropped by Watling on 13 as the captain made full use of the missed chance going on to score a scintillating century. His inning was decorated with 18 boundaries including 14 fours and four sixes. Smith was eventually dismissed by Trent Boult during the later stages of the innings but by then the damage had already been done.

2. Trent Boult’s impressive spell:

Trent Boult was the pick of the bowlers as far as New Zealand were concerned. He began well with the new ball but was unable to get any rewards in his first spell as most of the batsmen played him cautiously.

Boult came back pretty strongly in his 2nd spell removing the dangerous Travis Head who had already shared a 127-run 5th wicket stand with captain Smith. The left-arm pacer bowled a well-disguised slower delivery and Head was deceived by pace and gave a catch back to the bowler.

Boult was not done yet as he removed the well-set Steve Smith during the later stages of the innings to stem the run flow to a certain extent. He finished with figures of 2/51 in his allotted 10 overs.

3. Martin Guptill’s breathtaking knock:

The hard-hitting opening batsman was at his sublime best smacking the Aussie bowlers at will during his innings of 114 of 102 balls. Guptill began on an aggressive note despite losing opening partner Tom Latham and Kane Williamson early.

The swashbuckling right-hander was destructive in his approach and smacked six sixes and 10 fours during his innings of 114. Till Guptill was in the middle, New Zealand had a realistic chance of chasing down the total at a canter.

He found the gaps to perfection and eased off the pressure with a six whenever the situation demanded. Just when he looked set to take the visitors past the finishing line he fell to a rag long hop from Adam Zampa giving away a catch to Glenn Maxwell at short mid-wicket. After his dismissal, Colin Munro and Matt Henry batted well but their valiant effort was not enough to stop the Aussies from winning the match by 68 runs.

4. Steve Smith’s extraordinary flying catch at point:

The hosts were terrific on the field and one such livewire was none other than the century maker Steve Smith. New Zealand were going along well in their bid to chase down 325 and were comfortably placed at 140/3.

It was the 25th over of the innings when Mitchell Marsh was handed the ball. As the medium pacer bowled a short of length delivery way outside the off stump, Watling went for a fierce cut and connected pretty well. But little did he know that Smith had other ideas fielding at the point region.

As the ball was in the air Smith jumped to his wrong side and latched on to a stunner with his left hand. He did well to keep the ball in his grasp. It was a sensational catch by the captain considering that left hand is not his natural hand. It was one of the best point catches you would ever see in your life.

5. Josh Hazlewood’s match winning spell:

Hazlewood has been one bowler who has made a massive improvement in the last few months and looks set to rule the Australian bowling attack along with Mitchell Starc for years to come.

The lanky fast bowler began with a wicket in his very first over, removing the in-form opening batsman Tom Latham. He was using his height to good effect and got enough assistance from the unresponsive pitch. Hazlewood got rid of the Black Caps skipper Kane Williamson soon after to leave the visitors precariously placed at 34/2.

He came back with similar intensity in his 2nd spell too and removed Colin de Grandhomme with his very first over. The star fast bowler eventually finished with figures of 3/49 in his 10 overs and played an integral part in Australia winning the 1st ODI in Sydney.