In a pretty abysmal result at the Cazaly’s stadium, the Aussies thumped their neighbours Zealand in the second game of the Chappell-Hadlee series. The track provided some great assistance to the seam bowlers, who got great purchase and made the most of it. This result sees the Aussies reach an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series and the visiting team will be distraught with their batting performance.
Australia batted first and were in trouble straight away with skipper Aaron Finch walking back for a duck in the second over off Matt Henry. Trent Boult and Henry made them suffocate against the new ball, reducing the side to 26/4 inside the powerplay overs. Steve Smith hung in and stitched a couple of partnerships alongside Alex Carey and Glenn Maxwell to take the score past 100.
He completed his fifty and finished with a 94-ball 61, leaving his side at 117/8. An unexpected fight back from Australia’s bottom three, led by Mitchell Starc (38 off 45 balls), saw them reach 195 runs in 50 overs for the loss of 9 wickets. Hazlewood remained unbeaten on 23, whilst Boult returned with figures of 4/38 for the visitors.
The target was going to be tricky, but nobody saw the Australians firing in all cylinders this way. They gave absolutely no runs away and reduced the Kiwis to 14/3 in 9 overs. Sean Abbott chipped in with a magnificent five-over spell, where he picked two wickets and bowled four maidens.
Blackcaps captain Kane Williamson and Daryl Mitchell tried to hand around against the storm, but they could only survive a short period. To clean up the lower middle and tail, Adam Zampa channelised his inner best and helped his side finish the match soon. He returned with a five-fer in 9 overs, conceding just 35 runs.
New Zealand were bowled out for 82 runs in 33 overs and conceded a 113-run defeat. Starc and Abott picked two wickets each for the hosts.
Brief scores
Australia: 195/9 in 50 overs (Smith 61, Starc 38; Boult 4/38, Henry 3/33)
New Zealand: 82 all out in 33 overs (Zampa 5/35, Abbott 2/1)
Australia won by 113 runs
