Trans Tasman Tri-series, Australia vs New Zealand, 1st T20I - 5 Talking Points

After a very disappointing outing in the ODI series against England, team Australia hoped for renewed fortunes as they entered the home tri-nation series. In the first match of the tri-series that involved England and New Zealand as the other participants, the hosts took on the Kiwi side. The trans-Tasman rivalry has always been an interesting affair and the build up to the game was quite intense.

Two sides looked evenly matched on paper with Australia fielding a lot of youngsters. Talking about the form, Australia’s struggle in the shortest format of the game has always been evident. They did not have the best of times in T20I cricket coming in to the series. Meanwhile, New Zealand did arrive in to the series as the second rank side in the format. However, their most recent outing in T20 cricket was a disappointing 1-2 loss against Pakistan at home.

Coming to the game, the Australian bowlers wreaked havoc as the Kiwis could only muster 117 run on the board. Andrew Tye and Billy Stanlake shared 7 wickets among themselves. A rain interruption followed that ensured a shortened run chase. After losing the openers cheaply, Australia bounced back really well to seal the game by 7 wickets.

Here are the 5 Talking Points from the game:

1. Billy Stanlake rattles the Kiwi top-order

After having won the toss, Australia had no hesitation in bowling first. Their new ball bowler for the match, Billy Stanlake, ensured that the decision of the captain was totally worth it. The opening spell by Stanlake proved to be too hot to handle for the Kiwis. Stanlake dismissed the dangerman Colin Munro in the very first over of his spell.

On the very next delivery, he dismissed the other opener Martin Guptill for just 5. In his next over, he accounted for the dismissal of Tom Bruce on 3. Stanlake’s fiery opening spell had the visitors reeling on 16/3 by the end of the 3.2 overs. Billy Stanlake returned with figures of 3/15 in his quota of 4 overs.

2. Andrew Tye joins the party

While Billy Stanlake made merry with the new ball, the rising T20 sensation of the Australian team – Andrew Tye – proved to be lethal with his variations later in the game. Tye cleaned up the Kiwi tail to restrict the visitors to a mere 117/9 in their stipulated 20 overs.

Tye got rid of the last three batsmen in the innings. Earlier, he had got the big wicket of New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson in the 8th over of the match. Tye finished the innings as the pick of the bowlers with four wickets to his name. He returned with figures of 4/23 in his stipulated 20 overs.

3. Grandhomme plays the lone ranger for the visitors

The New Zealand innings headed nowhere as the Aussie bowlers dictated terms througout the innings. This was evident from the fact that none of the top four batsmen from the visiting side could get in to the double digits in the match. Ross Taylor (24) had a struggling time at the crease as well.

He took 35 deliveries to score his 24 runs. The actual impetus given to the innings was by the late cameo of all-rounder Colin de Grandhomme. Grandhomme scored an unbeaten 38 off just 24 balls with a four and three sixes. His knock gave New Zealand something to bowl at in the match.

4. Jittery start to the run chase

After the innings break, a short rain interruption took place. This saw team Australia get a revised target of 95 runs in 16 overs. In walked skipper David Warner alongside debutante D’Arcy Short. Short walked in to the match as the leading run getter in the BBL this year and had a lot expectations on his shoulders.

Much to his disappointment, he could only hit a boundary during his four ball stay at the crease. Tim Southee dismissed him on 4 in the second over of the match. His opening partner, David Warner, could not do much either. He perished to a Trent Boult delivery after scoring just 6 runs. Australia were 10/2 at the start of the third over.

5. Maxwell, Lynn give a glimpse of clean hitting

After the Australian openers headed back to the pavilion with single digit scores to their names, Chris Lynn and Glenn Maxwell exhibited great skills with the bat. The two hard hitting batsmen made a mockery of the Kiwi bowling attack. They were successful in launching a very good counter-attack. They added 77 runs off just 41 deliveries for the fourth wicket.

Lynn was unfortunate to have not been able to finish the game. He perished with a score of 44 to his name. His knock came off 33 deliveries and was studded with six fours and a six. Meanwhile, Glenn Maxwell remained unbeaten on 40 off 24 balls with five fours and a six to see Australia romp home with 7 wickets in hand.

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