New Zealand wagered 259 to win after three Australian batsmen won in the fifties and could not enter into any significant partnerships as the home team’s bowlers in the first three-game series ODI periodically canceled 79 runs before the finish on Friday, March 13th.
New Zealand’s chase started on the wrong foot when Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood got the ball into the right areas to put pressure on. It wasn’t long before Henry Nicholls shot one of Hazlewood’s and dropped 10 out of 22 balls.
Captain Kane Williamson had just started to feel comfortable next to Martin Guptill when Adam Zampa produced an excellent googly to knock him down for 19. Mitchell Marsh and Pat Cummins, who followed the opening cones, also focused on hitting conventional areas and forcing batsmen to take risks. Marsh earned his reward by having Ross Taylor scored a goal in the middle for four.
Martin Guptill had looked solid during his 40-year knock but was fired when Cummins got one who stayed on the pitch. Steve Smith took a brand blind at the backward point when the ball flew out of the outer half of Guptill’s stick. Then Cummins tested James Neesham with the bouncer and soon had him push one to the goalkeeper.
Australia WIN by 71 runs!
— ICC (@ICC) March 13, 2020
A complete performance from the hosts, who lead the three-match ODI series 1-0 👏#AUSvNZ SCORECARD ▶️ https://t.co/3xYpf8XrP0 pic.twitter.com/3gtOFDPiWP
Tom Latham and Colin de Grandhomme threatened to rejoin New Zealand with 51 runs. It was Hazlewood who made the breakthrough after Latham was caught in the middle of the wicket for 38 minutes. De Grandhomme left shortly afterward and got Adam Zampas Bowling. Australia was then able to clean up the lower order with little problem and play it out for 187 in 41 overs. Marsh, who was named player of the game, and Cummins ended with three gates each, while Hazlewood and Zampa shared the other four gates.
Australia had had a great start earlier. David Warner and Aaron Finch forged a 124-barrel booth for the first wicket, and both went beyond the 1950s. But New Zealand hit back hard when it secured the opening wicket thanks to a failed shot by Warner from a short ball from Lockie Ferguson. Finch soon caught one behind when he tried to cut Mitchell Santner. Steve Smith fell in Santner’s next round when he had to bowl while trying to play a cut.
Second ODI fifty for Marnus Labuschagne!
— ICC (@ICC) March 13, 2020
What a fighting knock this has been from the Australian batsman 👏 #AUSvNZ pic.twitter.com/Isd2nd6hq3
Second ODI fifty for Marnus Labuschagne!
— ICC (@ICC) March 13, 2020
What a fighting knock this has been from the Australian batsman 👏 #AUSvNZ pic.twitter.com/Isd2nd6hq3
D’Arcy Short then succumbed to the growing pressure and made a long jump from Ish Sodhi straight to the man below. Even when most of the batsmen started fighting around him, Marnus Labuschagne had little trouble closing the gaps. He scored a ball over a run in his half-century and forged an important 59-run stand with Marsh (27). He dropped out of the final for an excellent 52-ball 56 but had based Australia on an easy-to-defend result.
