Final thoughts
A much-needed T20 win for Australia, and thoroughly deserved too. They were clinical pretty much from the second over when Stanlake took back-to-back wickets. Tye was impressive too, but then no one in the team really put a foot wrong. The rain delay probably helped Australia more than the Black Caps, but the way it panned out, I doubt it would have mattered.
As for New Zealand, they were simply outplayed today - and didn’t have a response to the Aussie attack. Lynn and Maxwell proved the boundaries were there to be hit, but I suspect the Kiwi batsmen were spooked by that devastating spell by Stanlake - and by the time they got their confidence back to go for broke, it was already too late.
The big question now is, can Australia do the same against England in Hobart on Wednesday? More specifically, can big Billy Stanlake inflict the same kind of fear that the Aussie Test pace attack did on England’s batsmen? And crucially, does anyone have an umbrella I can borrow for the walk home? Thanks for joining me tonight, I’ll catch you next time.
Updated
Australia win by seven wickets
11.3 overs: Australia 96-3 (Maxwell 40, Carey 0)
Three needed... and Maxwell smashes one down the ground for four. Comfortable for Australia in the end, those early wickets from Stanlake set the tone of the whole game - the Black Caps struggled throughout after that.
Updated
11th over: Australia 87-3 (Maxwell 25, Carey o)
Too little too late from NZ as Lynn falls. Sodhi with a fairly frugal four off the over. It’s not enough though. Australia within a whisker.
Updated
WICKET! Lynn (44) c Sodhi b Boult
A good, probably match-winning, innings comes to a close, one slog too many as he tries to finish the game early by aiming for a bouncer. High and long to Sodhi.
Updated
9th over: Australia 70-2 (Maxwell 25, Lynn 35)
Lynn starts the over with a six, highly demoralising for Santner and New Zealand in general. He’s actually not bowled badly but Lynn has hit his straps. No sooner have I said that, than Lynn gets the toe of the bat, it lifts into the air, but falls short of the onrushing from Bruce. Maxwell hits a four with his next ball. Heartbreaking for Santner, great shot though. Twelve off the over.
10th over: Australia 83-2 (Maxwell 31, Lynn 41)
Just Can’t Get Enough by Depeche Mode blares out from the PA as Sodhi comes back. He looks like he’s definitely had enough. He’s smacked for four by Lynn off the second ball. Lynn is taking no prisoners. Australia cruising. Two or three overs to win it? Another four off the final ball for Maxwell. One or two overs to win it?
9th over: Australia 70-2 (Maxwell 25, Lynn 35)
Lynn starts the over with a six, highly demoralising for Santner and New Zealand in general. He’s actually not bowled badly but Lynn has hit his straps. No sooner have I said that, than Lynn gets the toe of the bat, it lifts into the air, but falls short of the onrushing from Bruce. Maxwell hits a four with his next ball. Heartbreaking for Santner, great shot though. Twelve off the over.
8th over: Australia 59-2 (Maxwell 20, Lynn 28)
Sodhi gets a bit of turn that beats Maxwell all ends up. The Aussie understandably decides to play defensively for the next ball, then knocks one away for two. That’s all Australia need to do. Richardson scampers to save a certain boundary, good fielding.
7th over: Australia 53-2 (Maxwell 17, Lynn 25)
De Grandhomme comes into the attack, can he shake things up? He’s hit for six off his second ball, right over his head from Maxwell, so probably not. It took a few balls but the Aussie all-rounder is looking to score quickly now. If these two stay in, this could be over quickly. Australia need less than a run a ball.
6th over: Australia 42-2 (Maxwell 9, Lynn 23)
Lovely placing from Lynn to find the gap off Sodhi with the first ball. Didn’t smash it, just guided it to backward point. There’s three more off the over. Australia will be happy with that. They’re on course.
5th over: Australia 36-2 (Maxwell 8, Lynn 17)
Maxwell finally gets to face the ball. Southee bowls one a smidge wide, but gets away with it - both Maxwell and the umpire letting it go. The next one is a definite wide though, and there’s two from the next ball. There’s two more after that too. And a boundary. Maxwell just starting to get his eye in.
Updated
4th over: Australia 27-2 (Maxwell 0, Lynn 17)
Lynn is taking no prisoners, attacking Santner now. He gets a boundary, but then a bit of spin means he misses the middle with his next strike. It doesn’t bother him - he whacks another four to end the over.
3rd over: Australia 19-2 (Maxwell 0, Lynn 9)
Lynn smashes successive boundaries just when it looks like the hosts might be under some pressure following the wicket of Warner. No need to slow down when the target, and overs, are so small.
Updated
WICKET! Warner (6) c Bruce, b Boult
Here we go - two danger men gone, and NZ are in with a sniff. Brilliant catch by Bruce on the boundary. Chucking it back into play just as he stepped over the rope, then coming back for the catch.
2nd over: Australia 10-1 (Warner 6, Lynn 0)
Southee with a loose delivery to start off, and Warner smacks it for four. Just what the Aussie captain needed. Short nails one into the gap - and it looks like the Aussies are on their way... but no, another delivery is smashed away, and somehow Taylor holds onto it. Impressive. And much needed for New Zealand, just when Australia looked like they were going to put their foot down.
WICKET! Short (4) c Taylor, b Southee
Solid hands from Taylor, low to catch a thunderous shot from Short.
1st over: Australia 1-0 (Warner 1, Short 0)
Boult starts us off with some extra bounce making life difficult for Warner. He looks aggressive though, then again when doesn’t he look aggressive. There’s a swing and a miss, there’s a thick inside edge that hits his leg painfully - and there’s a hastily run single. And that’s it.
Australia must chase a revised target of 95 from 15 overs
Hats off to the crowd (not literally, that would be madness in this weather) but since the rain stopped they’ve been dancing and Mexican-waving themselves into a frenzy. The younger ones anyway. No one wants to see Ian Healy doing that. Looks like we’re kicking off again any minute. Huzzahs!
Updated
If/when they come back on, it’s going to be an - ahem - interesting total to chase. The covers are off again. More umpire muttering. Fingers crossed.
This is the bit where my co-host and I should fill time by discussing our past battles on the Test scene, with a few cheeky digs and top “bants” about our glory days. Unfortunately I don’t have a co-host... and I’ve never played Test cricket - but I did win the County Championship three times with Derbyshire on International Cricket Captain. Beat that Michael Slater.
Well this is all a bit disappointing, and the crowd seem to agree. The SCG wasn’t quite full to the brim but the 23,000-odd fans inside the ground made it sound like it was. They’re all quiet and taking shelter at the minute though. Still all quiet on the umpire front.
Plenty of muttering among the umpires and officials... in fact they’ve been muttering so long that it’s started raining again. Bah. Apparently we start losing overs if they don’t get back on the pitch in five minutes... which they won’t. Double bah.
While we’re waiting, here are the rest of the tri-series fixtures. Already looking forward to the Hobart clash, especially if Australia can see this one through.
Second T20: Australia v England, Wednesday, February 7, Hobart
Third T20: Australia v England, Saturday, February 10, Melbourne
Fourth T20: New Zealand v England, February 13, Wellington
Fifth T20: New Zealand v Australia, February 16, Auckland
Sixth T20: New Zealand v England, February 18, Hamilton
Final: February 21, 5pm AEDT, Auckland
Just a quick blast of rain during the break to hold up proceedings. It’s gone now though, and it’s still pretty mild out so hopefully things will dry out soon.
Australia must chase 118 to win
Well that went pretty much according to plan for Australia ... not for me though as I got my overs mixed up early doors - but no one seemed to notice. Suckers! Those first couple of overs from Stanlake set up the rest of the innings - three wickets for the big lad, and Australia never really let their foot off the throat. Good captaincy from Warner, great bowling all way through the Aussie attack, and unless New Zealand can mirror the Aussie performance and nab a few early wickets, it’s hard to see anything other than a victory for the hosts.
Updated
20th over: New Zealand 117-9 (de Grandhomme 38, Sodhi 0)
A wicket to finish things off. Tye with a solid over at the death, Sodhi struggling to get bat on ball after the wicket of Southee, then gives his own away flashing at Tye. Clean bowled. And that’s all she wrote from New Zealand. Will it be enough? Doubtful. Highly doubtful.
WICKET! Southee (9) c Stoinis, b Tye
Southee heads off after a good low catch close to the boundary by Stoinis.
19th over: New Zealand 113-7 (de Grandhomme 36, Southee 9)
Richardson’s had an off-day, relatively speaking, but he’s not been too expensive as he heads into his final over. Singles for the first four balls, including a couple of yorkers to keep de Grandhomme at bay, then a slower ball beats the bat of Southee ... who makes amends by thwacking a six off the final delivery.
18th over: New Zealand 103-7 (de Grandhomme 34, Southee 2)
The big man, de Grandhomme, is the Black Caps’ only hope now... although admittedly it’s a pint-sized hope. He smashes one for six... except Agar jumps beyond the rope and throws the ball back into play while midair, saving four runs. Brilliant fielding. I never get bored of watching that sort of stuff. Not to be undone, de Grandhomme belts one to the onside that Agar wouldn’t be able to reach even if he was jumping on a trampoline while on stilts.
WICKET! Santner (1) c Warner, b Tye
Big swing from Santner, it goes high straight to a gleeful Warner. He doesn’t miss those.
17th over: New Zealand 92-6 (de Grandhomme 25, Santner 1)
Stoinis comes into the attack just at the right time, with New Zealand back on the back foot. Just two off it. The Kiwi run rate is still under six. Excellent bowling.
16th over: New Zealand 90-6 (de Grandhomme 24, Santner 0)
Agar manages to limit the boundaries, and grabs a wicket to boot. Any Kiwi momentum has been snuffed out.
Updated
WICKET! Taylor (24) c Carey, b Agar
Swing and a bottom edge - and Taylor is gone. Quick gloves by the keeper - who also stumps him for good measure. Just the faintest of touches from Taylor.
Updated
15th over: New Zealand 83-5 (Taylor 23, de Grandhomme 19)
A six from de Grandhomme off the second ball from Zampa. It was tossed up for the Kiwi who made it look easy. Two balls later, he smashes another six the other way, to the onside. A little late, but New Zealand desperately needed an over like that. 14 off it.
Updated
14th over: New Zealand 69-5 (Taylor 22, de Grandhomme 6)
De Grandhomme gets a boundary off the second ball from Stanlake. Finally a clean, attacking stroke finds the ropes. Come on chaps let’s make a game of it. Stanlake is having none of it though. Just two off the next four balls... although the final delivery looked suspiciously like a no ball. The umpires disagree.
Updated
13th over: New Zealand 62-5 (Taylor 20, de Grandhomme 1)
A great over from Zampa as Australia turn the screw. A stumping chance but de Grandhomme gets his foot back just in time. Just two from it, and a wicket. And here comes Stanlake. Oh dear...
Updated
WICKET! Blundell (14) c Richardson, b Zampa
Kiss of death from yours truly. Blundell is gone, pretty straightforward catch for Richardson in the end, right on the boundary again.
Updated
12th over: New Zealand 60-4 (Taylor 20, Blundell 14)
Well they haven’t lost any wickets for a while, that’s kind of a bonus, right? NZ get six off the over, but they need more.
11th over: New Zealand 54-4 (Taylor 17, Blundell 12)
A few runs here and there but the Kiwis are still struggling to get out of the blocks. Australia well on top.
Updated
Review - not out
10.1 overs: New Zealand 50-4 (Taylor 16, Blundell 10)
In comes Zampa to the attack. He give a big LBW shout for the second ball... but Taylor looked well down the pitch. It goes to review... and the umpire’s “not out” call is justified.
Updated
10th over: New Zealand 49-4 (Taylor 16, Blundell 9)
Tye back in as the Kiwis try to up the run rate. Taylor is having a go at almost everything, and getting very little away. Far too few boundaries, they don’t seem to have the measure of the bounce - and Tye’s variation is proving a big problem. Just four off the over. Frugal. Very frugal.
Updated
9th over: New Zealand 45-4 (Taylor 15, Blundell 6)
The Kiwis are taking some risks with their running. Maxwell with a potential run out chance... if it’d hit the stumps direct, Taylor would have gone (after changing his mind). Can’t really blame the Black Caps though, they need every run they can grab. Five off the over.
Updated
8th over: New Zealand 40-4 (Taylor 13, Blundell 3)
The Kiwis are really on the ropes now, someone needs get in and get in fast. Some dodgy running between the wickets juuuust pays off. They grab a few off the over but they’re struggling for wickets.
Updated
WICKET! Williamson (8) c Warner, b Tye
Tye strikes right away! This is looking ominous for the Kiwis. The skipper skies one, Warner does well to track it while running back towards the rope - and snaffles it.
Updated
7th over: New Zealand 34-3 (Williamson 8, Taylor 11)
Agar comes into the attack, and you can sense the relief from Williamson and Taylor. They have to take him on if they want to make a competitive total. It’s reasonably frugal from Agar though - just five off it, nudging singles mainly.
Updated
6th over: New Zealand 29-3 (Williamson 6, Taylor 8)
Stanlake opens with a yorker but Taylor deals with it well. The Kiwi veteran decides enough is enough and decides to take one on, getting a big outside edge that rolls away for two easy runs. The next one cuts him in two - as he tries to whack it out the stadium - and goes straight through to the keeper. No wickets this time, but still a good over from big Billy.
5th over: New Zealand 25-3 (Williamson 5, Taylor 5)
Richardson gets the nod for another over. Much tighter this time, although lacking the danger of Stanlake the destroyer. He gets an edge off Taylor but it’s straight down into the ground... then gets another and it races away for four. The Black Caps need a bit of luck if they’re going to get back into this. Stanlake gets another bite.
Updated
4th over: New Zealand 17-3 (Williamson 2, Taylor 0)
Another over, another wicket for Stanlake. Pure pace causing New Zealand all sorts of problems. Williamson manages to hang in for the rest of the over - getting one off the last ball.
WICKET! Bruce (3), c Richardson b Stanlake
Stanlake comes flying back in to torment the Black Caps! He’s on fire. Bruce skies it straight to Richardson who takes the catch right on the boundary.
Updated
3rd over: New Zealand 16-2 (Williamson 1, Bruce 3)
Another wide to start things off from Richardson. He’s still struggling a little but the next few balls improve each time and Williamson can’t get any of them away for a run.
2nd over: New Zealand 15-2 (Williamson 1, Bruce 3)
Stanlake saves the fastest ball for the hat-trick chance, but Bruce manages to get it away for three. Relief for the Black Caps who are under early pressure. Williamson wafts at the next one, defends the next one solidly, then bags a single. Superb from Stanlake.
Updated
WICKET! Guptill (5), b Stanlake
Stanlake on a hat-trick! I’ve barely finished typing and he strikes again. Clean bowled. I’d best get ready for the next one.
Updated
WICKET! Munro (3) c Carey, b Stanlake
Munro with a top edge, it loops into the air and the keeper is under it. Stanlake strikes early. Great pace.
Updated
1st over: New Zealand 11-0 (Guptill 5, Munro 3)
A wide to start things off for Richardson, down leg side. He overcompensates and goes pretty far the other way with the next ball but Guptill gets something on it at least, then flicks the next one away for four runs. A single brings Munro into play... and there’s a half-hearted lbw appeal but it’s a little optimistic. Good start by the Black Caps. Richardson struggling to find his line early doors.
Updated
Warner leads his men out onto the field, followed by Guptill and Munro who exchange fist bumps on their way to the crease. Here we go. Richardson to bowl.
Updated
Not long to go now. I’m looking forward to seeing if Short can replicate his Big Bash form at international level. The Kiwis up first though. Hopefully the rain stays away, there’s been a hint of it in the air all day.
Anyone else more than a little curious to see how Warner comes back after his poor one-day series? For the record, he averaged just 14.60 in the 4-1 series loss to England, scoring 73 runs in five games. History dictates that when the pressure’s on, he comes out swinging ... not that there’s any other option really in T20, but still, he could really use the confidence boost before the South Africa trip. Anyway, here he is sharing the love with Kane Williamson before tonight’s clash. Euch.
Plenty of respect between David Warner and Kane Williamson ahead of the T20 tri-series! #AUSvNZ pic.twitter.com/67MENHKMCz
— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) February 2, 2018
Team news
As half-suspected, D’Arcy Short has been given the nod - a reward for his stunning Big Bash form. Carey also makes his debut. Warner wins the toss and puts the Black Caps in to bat.
Australia XI: David Warner (c), D’Arcy Short, Chris Lynn, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey (wk), Ashton Agar, Andrew Tye, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa, Billy Stanlake
New Zealand XI: Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Kane Williamson (c), Tom Bruce, Ross Taylor, Colin de Grandhomme, Tom Blundell, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult
For those interested, India have comfortably beaten Australia in the Under-19s World Cup final. Check the scorecard here.
Did anyone else catch the BBL semi between the Strikers and Renegades last night? That final over was edge-of-the-seat stuff. So much so I’m sure my nose touched the TV at one point. Fantastic knock from Travis Head. Well the good news is Cricket Australia are allowing him (and D’Arcy Short and Alex Carey, too) to temporarily leave the Australia camp and play in the final on Sunday. Huzzahs.
Just in case you missed it, England (who Australia play in Hobart on Wednesday) crushed the PM’s XI last night (crushed I say!) – with David Willey smashing 34 off a single over. Thirty. Four. Against Nathan Lyon no less. Eep.
Pre-amble
Evening everyone, thanks for joining me for the slog-tastic start to this summer’s Tri-series tournament. Will it be as good as the Tri-wizard tournament held at Hogwarts in 1994? Only time will tell. I suspect there’ll be more boundaries and less resurrections of dark lords today … although Tony ‘Voldemort’ Abbott has been seen near the SCG this weekend, so you never know.
Anyway, that’s the waffle out of the way, on to business. It’s been a confusing chin-scratcher of a summer for Aussie cricket fans - and not just because of random Harry Potter references. The high of the Ashes was followed swiftly by the “meh” of the one-day series - and now we’re on to the nervous twitching of the pre-T20 series. With a less-than impressive T20 ranking (seventh), and a squad largely shorn of its international stars, it doesn’t exactly bode well for the next couple of weeks. In fact - unusually for a New Zealand touring side that isn’t the All Blacks - the Black Caps probably head into this match as favourites.
Australia have home advantage, but man-for-man the Kiwis have arguably the better team, with two of the world’s top three ranked T20 bowlers (Santner and Sodhi – first and third respectively), and fourth best batsman, Colin Munro. Chuck in Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson and a rejuvenated Ross Taylor and you can see why they’re ranked second in the world. To make things even more daunting for Australia, Aaron Finch tweaked his hammy earlier in the week (not a euphemism) and will not be risked tonight. All that said, it’s not as if Australia are lacking firepower ... Warner, Maxwell, Short, Carey - Surely there’s a top-order in there somewhere capable of doing some damage, whoever they face?
So can Warner lead his team to a morale-boosting short-form win? We’ll soon see. If not, there’s always quidditch.
Richard will be here shortly.
