Martin Guptill had an excellent night out at Wellington as New Zealand had the last laugh in the final and fifth T20I of the Australia tour of New Zealand.
Australia made changes to the batting order, opted to open with Philippe but the plan didn’t work as the youngster had to walk back after making just two runs.
However, it turned well for Wade who came in at number three. Wade and Finch added the important partnership for the visitors, took the ream to 74. Wade led the way with 44. From then on, it was a bit of a downfall as none of the batters took the initiative rather it was good bowling by the home team.
New Zealand had rested Kyle Jamieson and opted for extra batter and it did work well for them. In the bowling department, Ish Sodhi led the way once again, had 3 wickets to his name while Southee and Boult had two each. Chapman, who rolled his arms for two overs, had the important wicket of Maxwell.
Auatralia had managed only 142 on a pitch where 200 was easily possible. New Zealand showed how it was done by opting to open with Devon Conway and had pushed down Seifert who was having a poor run.
Conway and Guptill added 106 runs for the first wicket and the former was the first to fall, by 36 runs. Guptill then carried on to make 71 from just 46 deliveries. In the end, it was Glenn Phillips’ 16-ball 34* made all the difference and helped the team to seal the series.
Former Australian Cricketer Dean Jones passes away