New Zealand sealed an easy 7 wicket victory in the decider over Australia as they clinch the 5 match T20I series 3-2.
After the series tied at 2-2, both teams reached Wellington for the decider with Australia having the momentum after winning the previous 2 games. But the kiwis bounced back in the 5th T20I with a clinical performance and continue their dream run at home . After winning the toss, Aaron Finch decided to bat first but failed to reach at a big score despite a good start. After losing J.Phillipe in the third over , captain Finch and Wade snitched a 64 run partnership at a decent run rate .
At that point of time the Aussies were advancing towards a decent score but fell apart in the middle overs when Kiwi leg-spinner Ish Sodhi picked Finch (36) and never allowed the Australian middle order to take the innings forward by picking wickets at regular intervals . In the very next over , Big Show Maxwell was picked up by Chapman and the Australian innings never got going after that . Wade too departed for 44 when he was caught in the deep on a Trent Boult delivery. Marcus Stoinis did try to put up a fight by scoring a run-a-ball 26 but he was dismissed by Sodhi who made sure that the Aussies were restricted to 142/8 . . Sodhi finished with superb figures of 3/24. Boult and Southee picked 2 wickets each.
In reply , New Zealand chased the target comfortably in the end in the 16th over with 7 wickets . Martin Guptill was the star with the bat as he scored a scintillating 71(46) . Guptill and Conway(36) had a 106 run opening partnership which ended the hopes for the visitors. The both ensured that New Zealand didn’t have to face any hiccups while chasing as they belted the Aussie bowlers all around the park. Glenn Phillips played a cameo of 34 runs in just 16 balls which sealed the show for the hosts. Guptill was declared as the Man of the match for his superb 71 while Ish Sodhi was adjudicated as the player of the series for his tremendous bowling display as he bagged 13 wickets .
This was a clinical all round performance from the kiwis especially after being off colour in the previous two matches . Meanwhile, Australia will be gutted because they came back very strongly in the series after being 2-0 down but failed to repeat their performance in the decider after being in a good position. 160-170 would have been a good score on that pitch which certainly looked achievable for the Aussies after a promising start . But Lack of intent and lack of aggressive batting seemed to have cost Australia the match and credit should be given to the New Zealand bowlers for pulling things off and later chasing the target comfortably.
“The author of this article has crafted it for you. Boost his confidence by letting us know your feedback in the comments below!”