Zampa leads the way as bowlers seal T20I series win for Australia
Wellington
Adam Zampa picked four while rest of the Australia bowlers all chipped away with wickets to down New Zealand comprehensively in the second T20I and complete a series win for the visitors.
After a high-scoring, final-ball thriller in Wellington, bowlers took centre stage in Auckland to deliver a 2-0 lead for Mitchell Marsh’s side.
Australia didn’t feel the absence of David Warner, who was rested, as Travis Head and Steve Smith flew off the blocks after New Zealand opted to bowl.
Trent Boult was welcomed back to action with a 20-run first over where Head smashed two sixes and two fours. Steve Smith went after Adam Milne in the second as Australia began on the fifth gear.
Lockie Ferguson pulled it back, with two overs for just 7 runs in the PowerPlay but Boult was then taken for 16 in the sixth. Ben Sears clipped Head’s wings in the seventh over, dismissing him for a 22-ball 45. Sears, Mitchell Santner and Ferguson ran through Australia’s middle-order in the middle overs to reduce them to 122 for 6. New Zealand finished well with the ball too as Australia went from 140/7 in 15 overs to 174 all out in 19.4.
Their batters however, did not consolidate on this situation. They had to chase the total without Rachin Ravindra and
Devon Conway, who hit fast fifties in the opening fixture. Conway suffered a thumb injury in the first innings and was not available to bat.
Josh Hazlewood dented them early on, by dismissing Finn Allen in the opening over to jolt the hosts. New Zealand lost three wickets in the PowerPlay and the fourth right after this period to be down to 29 for 4.
Josh Clarkson joined Glenn Phillips in the quest to resurrect the chase, and even pushed the team past the halfway stage with a steady fifth-wicket stand. However, Zampa broke through and kickstarted another procession of wickets.
Trent Boult’s 16 was the second best effort after Phillips’s 42 in a scorecard of seven single digit scores. New Zealand went from 74 for 4 in the 12th over to 102 all out in 17 overs.
