Ice-cool Williamson wins New Zealand a thriller
This was the match the 2015 World Cup was crying out for, a competitive contest between two major sides, and the co-hosts played out a thriller in front of a packed and partisan Auckland crowd
This was the match the 2015 World Cup was crying out for, a competitive contest between two major sides, and the co-hosts played out a thriller in front of a packed and partisan Auckland crowd
Scorer: Chandan Duorah | Commentator: Vishal Dikshit
7.32pm What a match this turned out to be! Australia started strong, NZ shook their batting order, and were then cruising in their chase of 152 before Starc bowled beautifully to pull Australia back. They were only one wicket away from defending 151 in a tournament where 300 is being scored rather easily. The crowd got their money's worth for this slender one-wicket win! Exhilarating stuff here from the co-hosts, the closest of this World Cup, for sure, between Test-playing nations. Yes, finally we have one.
Trent Boult is the Man of the Match: We tied them down very nicely and in my mind was to come back in the second spell and take wickets, didn't think I would get five. We pulled it back nicely and everyone chipped in to make it a chaseable total. We've been working well for the last 6-12 months and move forward to the game next Sunday to get some more wins.
Michael Clarke: Very entertaining and we'd have liked it to go the other way. Our batting was horrendous to put it politely. Starc is a genius. I think both teams would say we didn't bat the way we'd have liked. Credit to the groundsmen, it was a very good pitch. Credit to New Zealand the way they bowled and executed their skills very well, we let ourselves down with the bat.
Brendon McCullum: One hell of a game. Both teams showed what quality their bowlers are. Starc for them and Boult for us, both were outstanding and the support was outstanding as well. We saw some great pace and swing bowling. We want to be an aggressive team with bat, ball and on the field as well. Everyone wants to see 300 scores, but 150 is great as well, with only one wicket down. Boult and Southee are outstanding in both Tests and ODIs, they have done well for a very long time, without disrespect to anyone.
The match has finished a good two hours early, but nobody will complain about the way it went. Thrilling pace and swing bowling, like Baz said, and what a delight these low-scoring thrillers are. We have the other match going on, India v UAE in Perth, so tune in to that and enjoy the weekend. It's goodbye from Vishal. Ciao!
Six runs to go, one slip Cummins has in place
One delivery he survived and Williamson will be back on strike. Clarke slows things down by changing the field, sends the third man back
Who'd have thought Australia would come back? Starc on a hat-trick for the second time in the match
TG Southee b Starc 0 (1b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0
Two wickets, six runs. The plot thickens, as they say
AF Milne b Starc 0 (2b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0
Three slips, a gully, short leg and leg gully in place
Kemisetti: "I now understand why BMac went after the bowlers so early, trying to unsettle them. In the context of this game, his 50 runs are very important and may have tilted the game in New Zealand's favor."
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