Australia bagged an eight-wicket win over historical rivals New Zealand to capture the team’s first-ever ICC T20 World Cup title. New Zealand put up a sturdy 172 runs target but the Australian reached the goal with ease in the end.
Kane Williamson’s blitz, Hazelwood’s precision
New Zealand were 58 for 1 in ten overs and had dropped Kane Williamson when he was on 21. Kane made sure he had the Aussies pay for this mistake and played a knock of 85 runs in 48 balls, extracting as much as 22 runs from one of Starc’s overs. Courtesy of this knock, New Zealand put up an incredible 172 runs in the Finals, which is a big score. John Hazelwood took 3 wickets for 16 runs despite the carnage.
Warner starts, Marsh finishes
Aaron Finch fell when the score read 15 and that brought Mitchell Marsh to the crease. David Warner and Marsh formed a 92 runs partnership in 59 balls. Then, Trent Boult, had David Warner bowled after he had made 53 runs in 38 balls. With 66 runs in 46 balls needed, Glenn Maxwell and Marsh finished the business with 7 balls to spare. Marsh made 77 runs off 50 balls while Maxwell bagged 28 runs in just 18 deliveries. Boult returned the most impressive figures for Kiwis with two wickets for 18 runs in four overs.
Win the toss, win the game?
The three knockouts games were won by the team chasing and dew was a huge factor in those night games. New Zealand and Australia won their games after late-game heroics of their middle-order so that can’t be discounted as well. However, winning the toss and bowling first looked like the most serviceable tactic. Anyway, David Warner who starred in two of those chases bagged the Player of the Series Award for making 289 runs in 7 games.