New Zealand put forth their best effort throughout the tournament, and their captain Kane Williamson, batted brilliantly in the final, but they were simply outclassed by the Australian side on fire. New Zealand has now reached 3 finals in the three previous limited-overs World Cups and lost all 3.
The New Zealand captain saved his finest innings for the final. After losing the toss, the batting was challenging from the opening on a quite dry pitch. Daryl Mitchell, the semi-final star, was out early, whereas Martin Guptill never got going and was out on 28 off 35.
Williamson had received a life while being on 21, despite Josh Hazlewood collecting just in the previous over. The Kiwi skipper went out in the same over, hitting Mitchell Starc for 19 runs and starting his team’s innings. Following 10 overs, New Zealand were 57/1, and Starc’s 19-run over gave them a much-needed boost.
Guptill’s departure from Adam Zampa didn’t damage them much, since Williamson had already started his performance. He didn’t struggle and also reached his 50 off 32 deliveries. The man reached his half-century with a series of sixes off Glenn Maxwell.
Since the 10th over, they have scored 79 runs in 36 balls, mostly because of Williamson. However, Australia had Josh Hazlewood, who had bowled brilliantly with the new ball and would return to make a significant impact. He had earlier dismissed Mitchell, although, in the 18th over, he took important wickets of Glenn Phillips and Kane Williamson, which limited New Zealand’s penultimate push.
They were able to score 36 runs in the final four overs, which seemed insufficient considering the momentum they had following Starc’s 16th over. However, despite Williamson’s magnificent knock of 85 runs off 48 balls with 10 fours and 3 sixes, the other end contributed very little. Despite this, they scored 172 runs in 20 overs, the greatest team total in a T20 World Cup final. Hazlewood was Australia’s top bowler, finishing with 3/16.
To be declared champions, Australia just had to chase down a record total in a T20 World Cup final. Trent Boult, on the other hand, took their captain out early with only 15 runs on the board. But it was the last time the Kiwis celebrated for the greater part of the following ten overs. At 3, Mitchell Marsh walked out to bat and attacked his initial delivery for a maximum off Adam Milne.
He knocked with a strike rate of 200 for the first 12 balls, setting the tone for Australia’s pursuit. David Warner took his time getting started, but the left-right combo in the middle proved New Zealand’s spinners unsuccessful. As the duo amassed 92 runs for the 2nd wicket, boundaries came at a steady rate. There was some beautiful hammering and courageous batting, and the Kiwis had no alternatives.
In the meantime, Warner reached his half-century but was outed by Trent Boult to offer his team a spark of confidence. But that wasn’t the BlackCaps’ night. Mitchell Marsh was playing the finest cricket of his life, and to say he placed the ball very well is an underestimate.
He was so accurate that he didn’t miss a single stroke, and he knew what he was doing from the first ball. Glenn Maxwell stepped out to bat at 4 and performed a comeback, but only because of Marsh. New Zealand gave it their all, but it wasn’t to be for them following a painful loss in the final of the 50-over World Cup 2 years ago.
It’s always supposed to be Australia after the needed run-rate fell below 6 with 5 overs to play, and the Men in Yellow made damn sure they didn’t miss the advantage. In the 17th over, there was an opportunity, but Boult lost it off his own delivery, allowing Marsh to escape. Even if he had grabbed the catch, it would have made little difference with Australia going backward.
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