AUS vs NZ Highlights, T20 World Cup: New Zealand thrashes Australia by 89 runs in Super 12 opener; Conway, Southee shine

Tim Southee (three for six) and Mitchell Santner (three for 31) were in charge of wrecking Australia, which was bowled out for 111, its lowest T20I score at home. Meanwhile, New Zealand ended its almost 11-year-long winless spell in Australia with a commanding win.

Earlier, Devon Conway’s 58-ball unbeaten 92, Finn Allen 16-ball 42 blaze in the PowerPlay and James Neesham’s unbeaten 13-ball 26 at the death powered New Zealand to 200 for three in 20 overs, which eventually proved too much for the defending champion.

OUT! Cummins skies this high in the air and taken by Conway. Southee has another wicket. New Zealand beats Australia by 89 runs and registers its first international win in Australia since December 2011.

OUT! Boult strikes timber and Starc has to go. Full on middle, Starc swings across the line and misses. Zampa comes in next. OUT! Slower one this time, Zampa makes a bit of room on the off side and then looks to go big on leg and misses as the ball crashes into his leg-stump. The last man in is Hazlewood. He flicks one behind square for a single. Boult goes short outside off and Cummins looks to run it down to third but misses. Driven to long-off for a single and Cummins keeps strike.

FOUR! Good length delivery from Ferguson outside off and Cummins backs away and clears the infield on the off to get four. Hundred runs up for AUS in 15.1 overs. SIX! Cummins pulls this short of length delivery over deep midwicket. Starc swings and misses outside off. Crunched through the off-side by Starc for just a single at deep cover.

Boult is back. Starts with a slower one angling across to Cummins, who swings and misses. Full toss and hacked away by Cummins to deep midwicket for a single. Starc pushes a full one wide of mid-off for one more. Too wide outside off this one and one extra run for Australia. Full on the legs and Cummins completely misses the ball.

Sodhi bowls out. Wide down leg side as he turns it into Cummins a tad too much. Turning into him again and Cummins works it to midwicket for a single. OUT! Maxwell goes for the switch-hit again but misses the ball this time and loses his leg-stump. Starc and Cummins at the crease now. Starc is beaten outside off as Sodhi turns it away outside off from the left-hander from a good length.

Ferguson comes back. Bowls short of a good length from around the wicket to Wade, who defends it off the backfoot. OUT! Good length in the channel and Wade gets an outside edge to the keeper. Cummins in at number eight. Short of a length again outside off and Cummins leaves. FOUR! Cummins swipes across the line and gets four runs at the square-leg boundary. Slower one and Cummins swings and misses. Slower again and swung away for a single at midwicket.

SIX! Maxwell brings out the switch-hit and clears deep extra cover with ease. Another switch-hit but this time Maxwell gets a bottom-edge and only one. Eight runs from the Sodhi over.

SIX! David sweeps this over midwicket for a maximum. OUT! Santner has his revenge next ball as David goes for the sweep again only to hand a catch to Neesham at deep midwicket. This one was shorter and had more turn and David couldn’t get the elevation. FOUR! Maxwell goes for the reverse-sweep and gets it wide enough of short third man to get four.

Sodhi continues. Tim David gets an outside edge as Sodhi gets the ball to turn away a bit. FOUR! Maxwell backs away a bit and goes inside out over covers to end the over with four runs.

GONE! Santner bags a second wicket and Glenn Phillips has pulled off a stunning diving catch to get rid of Stoinis! He goes for a 14-ball 7. Tim David has come to the crease. A tall ask ahead of him. Very good over. 4 runs and a wicket from it.

Ish Sodhi comes into the attack. Leg-spin for the first time in this innings. Australia need an impetus in the middle overs. The asking rate is climbing with each quiet over. Maxwell makes note of it as he reverse sweeps the last ball for four. The fifty comes up for Australia.

Santner for his second over. Maxwell flicks this on leg for a single. Maxwell seems to have pulled a muscle while trying to scurry for a second. BEATEN! Stoinis goes for a sweep and misses. This is bowled further outside off and Stoinis gets a bottom edge as he tries to reach out to it. Excellent diving stop by Williamson at cover.

Lockie Ferguson into the attack. Just a couple of singles from the first four balls. Maxwell and Stoinis need to build a partnership here. Maxwell prods this ball outside off off the backfoot and gets an outside edge that fetches him a single.

Southee continues. FOUR! Full and straight and Marsh flicks this to the fine-leg boundary. Slower one, Marsh is deceived and misses and the ball hits him on the thigh. Williamson thinks a lot before deciding not to review. OUT! Another slower one, Marsh wants to go big on leg-side but ends up slicing it high and Nasheem takes a good one at deep midwicket. Stoinis joins Maxwell. Good length delivery on middle stump and Stoinis defends it off the backfoot.

Santner into the attack. FOUR! Marsh sweeps this to long leg for his first boundary. SIX! Full outside off and Marsh lifts this over covers for a huge six. OUT! Finch is gone. Backs away outside leg and drills it straight to the extra cover fielder.

SIX! Length on leg-stump, Finch takes a step forward and launches it over deep midwicket for a 102m-six. FOUR! Low full toss and Finch pushes it down the ground for four more. Outside edge as Finch was squared up by that delivery but still gets a couple behind point.

OUT! Southee strikes first ball. Warner is bowled. On leg-stump, Warner wants to sweep it but gets an inside edge onto his pads before seeing his stumps disturbed. Marsh comes in next. Southee becomes the leading wicket-taker in T20Is with that dismissal!

​

Warner and Finch open the batting for Australia. Boult has the new ball. Warner is beaten off the second ball as Boult moves the ball away in the channel. Three dots in a row now. FOUR! Outside edge as Boult darts it into Warner’s pads, just beyond the reach of a diving slip fielder and goes away for a boundary. Clipped off the toes for a single. Finch comes on strike. Beaten outside off stump and Boult angles it across.

Good yorker outside off to Neesham by Hazlewood to start the final over. Another yorker on the legs and flicked away for a couple behind. Fullish outside off and Neesham lofts it down the ground for just one. Conway moves across, and looks to scoop this full toss but the ball flies off the edge and goes over short third for three runs. A couple at long-on for Neesham. SIX! Last ball maximum for Neesham as he launches this over wide long-on. 200 up for New Zealand off the last ball of the innings.

Starc to bowl the penultimate over. Executes the yorker to perfection and Neesham digs it out for just a single. Conway flicks this from wide outside off to fine-leg and Stoinis does well to save a boundary and keep it down to a couple. Full toss to Neesham and heaved away to deep midwicket for just a single. FOUR! Driven with surgical precision through the gap in the covers and Conway moves to 89 with one over to go.

Cummins bowls out. Cut away by Conway through the off-side for a single. SIX! Length outside off and Neesham stands firm and hammers this over deep midwicket. Full outside off next ball and driven over covers for one more. Cummins under a bit of pressure as he bowls this wide outside off, going for the wide yorker.

Stoinis bowls the 17th over. FOUR! Low full toss and Conway beautifully drives this down the ground for four runs. Slow and shorter next up and flat-batted pull by Conway for just one at square-leg. Neesham lofts the first ball he faces down the ground but only gets one as he doesn’t find the timing. Nine runs from the over and Stoinis ends with figures of 4-0-38-0.

Hazlewood comes back. Goes short in the first couple of deliveries in the over. There is caught behind appeal against Phillips as he looks to cut this away. Turned down by the umpire and Finch goes upstairs, only to lose the review. FOUR! Muscled down the ground by Phillips for a boundary. Short of length on middle and off and the batter just stands and delivers. OUT! Pitched hard into the pitch, Phillips back away to pull and gets a top edge, which is easily taken by the bowler.

Zampa bowls out. Bowls out that turns away from Conway outside off and the batter misses and tumbles over but ensures his back leg was inside the crease. FOUR! Conway now clears his front leg and pummels this down the ground for a four. Clipped off the pads by Conway for a single off the last ball and Zampa is done. Zampa 4-0-39-1.

Cummins the bowler. Conway drives this with elegance outside off and it falls just short of the cover fielder before beating him. A couple of runs. FOUR! New batter Phillips is off the mark with four as he gently pushes this fullish delivery outside off through the off-side and to the boundary. Slower-bouncer and Phillips puts it away for a couple more.

Azam bowls his third. SIX! Conway steps out and hammers this over midwicket first ball of the over and races to his fifty off 36 balls. Williamson reverse-sweeps, misses and given out LBW. Williamson reviews with just a second left on the clock. It was full, and Willamson yorked himself by stepping out to reverse-sweep this and the ball went under the bat. Three reds and the captain will have to walk. Kane Williamson lbw b Adam Zampa 23(23b 1x4 1x6).

Starc continues. Just two singles off the first three balls. Williamson backs away outside leg, Starc follows him with a length ball and keeps it down to one leg-bye. Starc keeping it very tight here. Varying his pace with skill and delivering those yorkers with precision. Just five singles from it.

SIX! Stoinis comes and Williamson sends his first ball of the over for a maximum behind square as he gets low, almost sweeping it. A couple of singles to follow. Slower one and Willamson is too early into the pull and fetches only a single. He crawls to 20 off 19 balls.

Starc comes back after that first 14-run over. Yorker to Williamson and dug out for a single. Conway drives on the up and square on the off-side for a couple more. Driven to mid-off for a single. Punched off the backfoot by Williamson for one more. Searing yorker, Conway jams his bat just in time and the ball goes off the ground and just over the stumps. Slower one, miscued pull by Conway for a single at short fine.

Zampa continues. A couple of singles to start the over. Conway miscues a reverse-sweep. SIX! He breaks the shackles finally, stepping out and dispatching this one over long-on. Huge appeal for LBW, only Zampa looks interested and Finch goes upstairs. Conway had pressed forward to defend, the ball hit the flap of the front pad. Looks straight but DRS shows the ball was going over the stumps. AUS loses the review.

Stoinis comes for his second over. Clipped off the pads for a couple at deep midwicket by Conway. Tucked off the pads again for one more. Short of length outside off and Williamson gets on his toes to push this through to deep cover for one. Slower one deceives Williamson as this back of a length delivery hits his gloves on the attempted flick. Bouncer next up and called wide for height. Williamson pulls to square-leg for a last-ball single.

FOUR! Zampa into the attack and is greeted with a boundary. Flighted on off and Conway drives this crisply to the fence through covers. Williamson steps out and works it to long-on for a single. Three singles after the first-ball boundary. Nine runs from the over and Conway keeps the strike with a last-ball single.

This is New Zealand’s highest score in the PowerPlay in a T20 World Cup match.

Cummins continues. FOUR! What a shot from Conway. Bowled wide outside off, Conway thought of going big on leg-side but then ends up slicing it and squeezes a boundary at third. Five runs from the over and NZ ends with 65 runs in the PowerPlay.

Hazlewood returns for his second over. OUT! Allen is cleaned up. Perfect yorker and Allen steps out and has no answer for it as the ball crashes into his stumps. Finn Allen b Josh Hazlewood 42(16b, 5x4, 3x6). Kane Williamson walks in at 3. A bit of a hold-up in play as the sightscreen flickers. Length ball just outside the line of off-stump and Williamson defends with an open face. Three dots in a row for Williamson. FOUR! Williamson is off the mark with a glorious shot for four. Punches off the backfoot between cover and point.

Stoinis to bowl the fourth over. Conway drives through covers for a couple first ball. Bouncer on leg-stump, Conway misses the pull. Slower ball outside off and Conway reaches out to connect and misses. Defended by Conway and hares for a single. Good over so far by Stoinis, just three runs from four balls. Taking pace off seems to be the trick on this wicket. SIX! Said that too early as Allen steps out an clears the straight boundary with ease. Fifty runs up for NZ in 3.5 overs.

Cummins into the attack. Conway gets an inside edge on the drive and the ball goes to square-leg for a single. FOUR! Straying down leg-side, Allen throws his bat at it as his one hand comes off and the ball bursts through the hands of Zampa and runs away to the fine-leg boundary. FOUR! Length ball outside off and Allen steps out and hammers this over covers for back-to-back fours. SIX! Short of length on the middle and Allenn has pulled this over square leg for a flat six. Punched off the backfoot through covers for a couple to end the over.

FOUR! Hazlewood from the other end. FOUR! First ball boundary for Conway as he tucks this length ball on the pads to the fine-leg fence. A couple of singles. FOUR! Conway steps out and drives on the up between the bowler and mid-off and to the boundary. FOUR! Allen ends the over with a cracking four, stepping out and piercing the gap in the covers.

Starc to Allen first ball from over the wicket. Full around off and driven down to mid-on. FOUR! Full outside off second ball and Allen hammers this to the long-on boundary. SIX! Allen has got the Super 12 off to a bang! Full, in the slot around off and Allen lofts this over long-on for a maximum. Pace off next delivery, still fullish outside off and driven down the ground for a dot ball. FOUR! This is drilled down the ground for a boundary. Starc ends the over with a slower bouncer which Allen is not able to pull away.

Here comes New Zealand’s first. The Kiwis will be keen to break the jinx and win their first international match on Australian soil in more than 10 years.

The seats are filling up at the SCG as the 2021 finalists walk out for the national anthems.

Tim Southee (122 wickets) needs one wicket to surpass Shakib Al Hasan and become the leading wicket-taker in men’s T20Is.

Devon Conway (wk), Finn Allen, Kane Williamson (c), Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult.

Aaron Finch (c), David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Matthew Wade(w), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood.

Australia wins the toss and elects to bowl.

Square boundaries are 60m and 71m and straight boundaries are 83-84m long.

Played 2; Australia won 1; New Zealand won 1

Devon Conway (wk), Finn Allen, Kane Williamson (c), Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Jimmy Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Lockie Ferguson, Ish Sodhi.

Aaron Finch (c), David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Matthew Wade (wk), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood.

The Kiwis have a deplorable record Down Under of late. Their last win in any format in Australia came back in December 2011 when New Zealand won a Test by seven runs.

Played 3; Australia won 3; New Zealand won 0

Played 15; Australia won 10; New Zealand won 4; Tied 1

Chance of rain has reduced to 70% in Sydney but a thunderstorm is still around.

Partly cloudy in Sydney right now with a 90% chance of rain. Not very encouraging signs ahead of this much-awaited clash.

Kane Williamson is not a man of numbers. The New Zealand captain loves to be realistic in setting his targets and does not ponder too much about the past.

So, on the eve of the Super 12 stage opener of the T20 World Cup against Australia, when he was reminded that it’s been more than a decade since the Black Caps won in Australia (December 2011) in any format of the game, Williamson smiled and nonchalantly replied, “No, we haven’t thought too much about that…”

The Kiwis are not concerned about the opponent and are more focused on fixing the weaknesses in their armour. The team invited Steve O’Keefe, one of the most successful finger spinners in the Big Bash League (BBL), to pass on some tips to their spinners, including Ish Sodhi, at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on Friday morning.

With Daryl Mitchell yet to fully recover from his finger injury, the team has a bit of worry in its middle-order. And even though defending champion Australia will go with its usual pace-heavy line-up - comprising Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood - in case of a rain-curtailed game, Adam Zampa’s overs could be crucial. The wrist-spinner has picked 98 wickets at a strike rate of 18.87 with an economy rate of 7.22 in the BBL, and also enjoys a good economy rate (6.94) in 69 T20Is.

New Zealand’s top-order is its strength, with captain Williamson around, but the seasoned Martin Guptill is not a certain selection. Guptill has failed to fire in the T20s recently. Having featured in six T20Is since August, he has scored 132 runs. However, it’s the top-quality bowling line-up comprising Tim Southee and Trent Boult that could prove effective in Australian conditions.

But with predictions of heavy showers and thunderstorms, both sides have been forced to rethink their strategies in case overs are reduced and will look to be flexible with their team compositions.

While Australia captain Aaron Finch is open to reshuffling the batting order, Williamson wants to wait and watch before finalising the playing eleven. On paper, Australia appears more confident despite its recent home series defeat to England.

After three mediocre innings, captain Finch scored 76 in the warm-up game against India, while his opening partner David Warner (205 in last five T20Is with two seventy-plus knocks) has shown indications of returning to form, even though there are mild concerns over the fitness of Mitchell Marsh and the form of Glenn Maxwell.

The team’s biggest boost, however, is Tim David. Having effectively relegated Steve Smith to the bench, David has carved out a niche and his impact as a hard-hitting finisher in the lower middle-order has given the team much needed confidence.

And that’s one area where New Zealand struggles. Even though there are quite a few senior players in its ranks, the team effectively lacks a finisher and, in a fickle format such as T20, that could be a major cause of concern.

Australia will miss Cameron Green. Coming in as a replacement for the injured Josh Inglis, Green joined the team in Sydney only on Friday morning and won’t be available for selection.

Defending the title at home may not be an easy task for Australia, but when the two finalists from the 2021 edition meet again, they will be hoping to make a statement.

Australia: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa. New Zealand: Kane Williamson (c), Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Mitchell Santner, Glenn Phillips, Jimmy Neesham, Daryl Mitchell, Adam Milne, Martin Guptill, Lachlan Ferguson, Devon Conway, Mark Chapman, Michael Bracewell, Trent Boult, Finn Allen.

The T20 World Cup match between Australia and New Zealand will be aired LIVE on the Star Sports Network. The match will also be LIVE streamed on Disney+Hotstar.