Matthew Short is the Player of the Match for his quickfire 33 today. He says he feels most comfortable playing his strokes and the aggressive way they needed to play today helped him. Adds the squad is so strong and unreal with power hitters from top to bottom. Mentions that he was a bit nervous with the ball in his hands but it all went out well as a result of a collective effort from the side.
The Presentation ceremony...
Earlier in the day, New Zealand elected to field first against their Tasman counterparts. However, the first innings was heavily affected by intermittent rain interruptions. Despite the weather challenges, Travis Head emerged as the aggressor, contributing an impressive 33 runs. He found support in Matthew Short, who played a quickfire innings of 27 runs off just 11 balls, and Maxi, whose brisk cameo yielded 20 runs from just 9 deliveries. Their collective efforts propelled the Tasmanian team to a total of 118 runs before rain forced a halt to the proceedings. New Zealand was thus faced with a challenging task in the chase as Australian bowlers tied them up for runs. New Zealand were cruising at 10s per over but since the halfway, Australia restricted them with some brilliant bowling from all the bowlers and won the game by 27 runs (DLS).
Australia, defending a target of 127 runs in 10 overs after the rain delays, saw Matthew Short and Spencer Johnson making crucial breakthroughs. Short dismissed Will Young, despite conceding 18 runs in his over, while Johnson's raw pace and bounce accounted for Tim Seifert's wicket. Adam Zampa, after an initial expensive over, tightened the screws by dismissing Finn Allen with a superb delivery and conceding just 7 runs in his next over. The Australian bowlers, backed by good overs from Ellis and Zampa, applied pressure on the New Zealand batsmen, restricting boundaries and conceding only 20 runs in the subsequent three overs after the halfway mark of the chase. Nathan Ellis bowled the penultimate over and he was precise with his bowling as he conceded just 8 runs and squeezed them for runs making it impossible for their counterparts to make any comeback.
Australia WIN by 27 runs (DLS) and registered their 100th win in the T20I cricket along with their 5th win at Eden Park. Also, they have whitewashed New Zealand in this Hadlee-Chappell series on their home soil by 3-0. Right from the moment they came to defend the total, Australian bowlers were impressive and made the Kiwi batters hunt for runs with their tight lines and lengths. New Zealand had no choice but to adopt an aggressive approach as they pursued a DLS-adjusted target of 126 runs within a shortened 10-over period. After a strong start, with Will Young hitting a couple of boundaries before departing, Tim Seifert followed suit, attempting a big shot that cost him his wicket. Despite these early setbacks, New Zealand maintained a brisk scoring rate, with Finn Allen and Glenn Phillips aggressively pushing the score forward, keeping the scoreboard ticking at over 10 runs per over. However, at the halfway mark of the chase, with the team at 51 runs, Allen departed while trying to clear the boundary. As the innings progressed, New Zealand struggled to find boundaries and lost wickets in the pursuit of aggressive shots, especially with the challenging batting conditions following the rain interruptions. The required run rate sky-rocketed, putting immense pressure on the Kiwi batsmen. The result, the equation stood at 51 runs off the last two overs which was a too steep slope to climb. Glenn Phillips and Chapman struggled to connect the shots and ate up a few dot balls which were enough for the game to drift far away from their reach.
Matthew Short to Mark Chapman, FOUR! Boundary of an inside edge but the Kiwis lose this by 27 runs. Fuller one sliding down leg, Mark Chapman gets an inside edge racing past the keeper to his right for a boundary towards fine leg.
Matthew Short to Mark Chapman, Yorker in middle, Mark Chapman drives this through extra-cover for a couple.
Matthew Short to Glenn Phillips, Low full toss on leg, Glenn Phillips smashes this to long on for a single.
Matthew Short to Mark Chapman, Short of a length outside off, Mark Chapman slaps this to long on and takes a single.
Matthew Short to Glenn Phillips, Too full in middle, Glenn Phillips slogs this towards long on for a single.
Matthew Short to Glenn Phillips, SIX! Full and wide of off, Glenn Phillips launches this out of the park over the sight screen for a maximum.
Matthew Short to bowl the last over of the chase. The game has already drifted away from New Zealand's reach as they need 43 off the last over now.
Nathan Ellis to Glenn Phillips, Yorker on leg, Glenn Phillips pushes this towards square leg and takes a single.
Nathan Ellis to Glenn Phillips, FOUR! On a length around the pads, Glenn Phillips flicks this wide of the short fine fielder and gets a boundary.
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Nathan Ellis to Mark Chapman, BYE! Full and wide outside off, Mark Chapman swings and misses again. Glenn Phillips gets to the other end quickly. Matthew Wade aims at the stumps but misses.
Nathan Ellis to Glenn Phillips, Low full toss on off, Glenn Phillips drills this to long on for a single.
Nathan Ellis to Mark Chapman, BYE! Back of a length around off, Mark Chapman swings and misses but Glenn Phillips was off the blocks quickly as he raced to the other end for a single.
Nathan Ellis to Mark Chapman, On a length outside off, Mark Chapman clears his front leg and swings wildly but misses out.
Nathan Ellis to bowl the penultimate over.
Mitchell Starc to Glenn Phillips, FOUR! Attempted yorker goes wrong, Glenn Phillips stands his ground and smashes this over mid off for a boundary.
Mitchell Starc to Glenn Phillips, Hits the hard length at good clicks, Glenn Phillips looks for the pull but gets late to it and misses.
Mitchell Starc to Glenn Phillips, Full and wide outside off, Glenn Phillips looks to reach at it but misses. A tight call goes in favor of the bowler.
Mitchell Starc to Mark Chapman, LEG BYE! Yorker on pads, Mark Chapman looks to slog this one but the ball sneaks past his bat and hits his pads as the run a single.
Mitchell Starc to Mark Chapman, Chapman misses out as that was there to be hit. On a length around the pads, Mark Chapman misses the flick and the ball drops after a deflection off his pads.
Mitchell Starc to Mark Chapman, FOUR! Carved away for four. Full and wide outside off, Mark Chapman slices this wide of the short third fielder for four. A much, much needed boundary for Kiwis.
Mitchell Starc (1-0-7-0) is back into the attack.
Spencer Johnson to Mark Chapman, Another tight over from Spencer Johnson. Short-pitched in middle, Mark Chapman pulls this towards cow corner for a single. Singles and doubles won't really matter to Australia at the moment as the game is pretty much under their control now.
Spencer Johnson to Glenn Phillips, Short-pitched in middle, Glenn Phillips pulls this towards deep backward square leg for a single.
Spencer Johnson to Mark Chapman, The game is drifting further away from the Kiwis with the boundaries being dried up. On a length around off, Mark Chapman chops this onto his pads and takes a single.
Spencer Johnson to Mark Chapman, WIDE! Too full and wide of off. Chapman leaves it.
Spencer Johnson to Mark Chapman, Pitched up on off, Mark Chapman moves to his leg and drives this through extra-cover for couple.
Spencer Johnson to Glenn Phillips, Short-pitched on leg, Glenn Phillips tow poked it towards square leg for a single.
Spencer Johnson to Mark Chapman, LEG BYE! On a length going down leg, Mark Chapman deflects this off he thigh pad towards off for a single.
Spencer Johnson replaces Nathan Ellis.
Adam Zampa to Glenn Phillips, FOUR! Bad luck for the bowler but this was badly needed for the Kiwis. Tossed up in middle, Glenn Phillips inside edges this racing past the short fine fielder for a boundary. Still a steep slope to climb as 68 runs are required of the last 4 overs.
Adam Zampa to Glenn Phillips, Quicker one wide of off, Glenn Phillips leaves it expecting a wide but the umpire calls it a fair one.
Adam Zampa to Mark Chapman, Tossed up in middle, Mark Chapman inside edges this towards deep square and takes a single.
Adam Zampa to Glenn Phillips, Short of a length in middle, Glenn Phillips swivels and smashes this to deep mid-wicket for a single.
Adam Zampa to Mark Chapman, Wrong'un on off, Mark Chapman dabs it to point and takes a single.
Mark Chapman is in at number 5.
Adam Zampa to Finn Allen, OUT! TAKEN! The misery ends for Finn Allen as he departs. Short of a length turning away from the batter, Finn Allen looks for the wild slog towards leg but ends up hitting it off the toe and ballooning this over Mitchell Starc at point. Starc settles underneath and takes a good catch. New Zealand are now in deep trouble as they have lost their top-order halfway at the chase.
Nathan Ellis to Glenn Phillips, FOUR! Glenn Phillips gets lucky but he wouldn't mind one bit. Pitched up outside off again, Glenn Phillips swings hard and slices this off the edge flying over short third for a boundary.
Nathan Ellis to Glenn Phillips, DEJA VU! Swinging hard and missing for the fourth time in succession. On a length wide of off, Glenn Phillips swings hard but misses again.
Nathan Ellis to Glenn Phillips, That's a beauty! Away swinging wide yorker, Glenn Phillips fails to get any part of his bat behind this one. Three dots on a trot.
Nathan Ellis to Glenn Phillips, Swing and a miss. On a length wide of off, Glenn Phillips looks for the square cut and gets beaten again.
Nathan Ellis to Glenn Phillips, Short and wide outside off, moved away a bit from the batter. Glenn Phillips looks to reach at it and cut this one but gets beaten.
Nathan Ellis to Finn Allen, Slower one sipping on the batter, Finn Allen rolls this towards long on and jogs off to the other end.
Quick changes. Nathan Ellis replaces Spencer Johnson.
Adam Zampa to Glenn Phillips, Glenn misses out as he cuts a wide one straight to backward point for no run.
Adam Zampa to Glenn Phillips, SIX! It's landed in the top tier and Glenn Phillips is smoking. Fuller in the slot for Glenn Phillips. Glenn crouches low and slog sweeps this way over the fence towards deep mid-wicket region for a gigantic maximum.
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