Favourites Australia to face charged up New Zealand
Overview
New Zealand v AustraliaEden Park, Auckland
Final
Wednesday 21 February; 19:00 local time, 06:00 GMT
When the two teams met in the first match of the Trans-Tasman Twenty20 International Tri-Series, it was all Australia in Sydney. Billy Stanlake and Andrew Tye shared seven wickets to keep New Zealand to 117/9, and then Australia cruised to 96/3 in 11.3 overs after the target was revised by the DLS method.
Australia kept winning, and came up against New Zealand in their final fixture, at Auckland’s Eden Park. It wasn’t all Australia this time, but it was Australia again. This was one for the ages from the big-hitting point of view. Martin Guptill smashed 105 in 74 balls and Colin Munro had 76 from 33 balls as New Zealand put up 243/6. Another day, that should have been more than enough. But by the time David Warner, D’Arcy Short, Glenn Maxwell and Aaron Finch were done feasting on the bowling at the small ground with a true pitch, Australia had not only reached 245/5, they had gotten there with seven balls in hand. It was the highest chase in T20I history.
With the final to be played at the same venue, and all the personnel from the 16 February game very much around, the spectators at the 50,000-capacity stadium should expect a lot of catches to come their way as another big-hitting extravaganza is quite on the cards come Wednesday, 21 February.
Australia have been the form team by some distance. Before the tournament, they had looked a bit thin with many of the regulars rested keeping in mind the upcoming Test series in South Africa. But despite David Warner, made captain of the team, having a lean run in the first three matches with runs of 6, 4 and 2, Australia were unstoppable. Apart from the two wins against New Zealand, Australia also beat England both the times they faced off, with wins scripted by restrictive bowling and good batting hands from Maxwell and Finch, and the new man in the mix, Short.
He has been a revelation since getting a break and moving to the top of the order in the absence of Finch for the first game. Short failed the first time, but so good has he been since then that the Australians have kept him there even after Finch has come back, and both men have delivered – Short with the jabs and Finch the knockout ones.
Short has 146 runs from four games at a strike rate of 144.55 and while Finch has only scored 56 runs from his two outings, he has scored them from just 19 balls for a strike rate of 294.73. Add to that Maxwell’s 213 runs from four games at a strike rate of 174.59 and it’s easy to see why Australia have won everything. Not to forget the bowling: Tye, Stanlake and Kane Richardson are all in the top five in the wicket-takers’ list, and Ashton Agar has been the stingiest of the frontline bowlers, his 14 overs so far going for 6.28 runs each.
New Zealand have had a tougher time of it, and just about managed to squeeze through the door courtesy a superior net run rate to England. Both teams lost all their games against Australia and New Zealand won the first of their games against England by 12 runs to get into the final league game placed slightly better. As a result, after England scored 194/7, they had to stop New Zealand at 174, but that wasn’t to be. England still won, but by two runs. Not good enough.
But though Kane Williamson’s men have taken the more complicated route to the final, they have been very good at most times. With the bat, Guptill has been on a roll as he has become the most prolific run-getter in the international game, Munro has blitzed away at times, Williamson has played one match-winning innings and Mark Chapman, the new boy, has shown that he belongs. Trent Boult, meanwhile, is up at the top of the wicket-takers’ charts with eight wickets – tied with Tye.
This one has all the makings of a classic, a high-scoring one. Australia are favourites after their bull run through the group stage, but as always in a T20 game between two strong sides, the past might not matter hugely come the big evening.
Key players **Martin Guptill (New Zealand):**The hard-hitting opening batsman starts the final with 2250 runs in the format, the most by anyone. And he’s reached there with scores of 5, 65, 105 and 62, underscoring the form he is in. With Munro for company, Guptill can and often does give New Zealand blazing starts and also has the skills to bat deep. If he does that, his team will most likely get the kind of total they want, whether batting first or second.
**D’Arcy Short (Australia):**He started slowly, but has picked up pace and runs as he has gone along, achieving exactly the sort of consistency that’s so rare in the format. When the time came for him to change gears, in the Eden Park game, he scored 76 in just 44 balls in an effort that win him the Player of the Match award. The hitters are all around him; he has to keep the innings on the right track.
ConditionsRuns, runs and more runs, unless something completely unexpected happens. It’s supposed to be a pleasant evening, with a few clouds around but nothing too threatening.
Squads **New Zealand:**Kane Williamson (capt), Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Ross Taylor, Mark Chapman, Tim Seifert (wk), Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner, Ben Wheeler, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult, Anaru Kitchen.
Australia: David Warner (capt), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey (wk), Ben Dwarshuis, Travis Head, Chris Lynn, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, D'Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa.
