Tim Seifert is bowled by Kane Richardson during the fourth T20 international between Australia and New Zealand at Sky Stadium in Wellington. Photograph: Mark Tantrum/Getty Images
Tim Seifert is bowled by Kane Richardson during the fourth T20 international between Australia and New Zealand at Sky Stadium in Wellington. Photograph: Mark Tantrum/Getty Images
Well well well. In 2019 leading into the 50-over World Cup, Australia lost two matches in India and then came back to win three in a row and take the series. This year, with a T20 World Cup on the horizon, they lost the first two matches of this series against New Zealand and have come back to square it 2-2 with one to play.
That remaining match will be at the same ground in Wellington on Sunday afternoon, although allegedly it will be on a new wicket. The surface today looked pretty hard to score on, nobody was timing their shots well at all, and boundaries were scarce.
All of that said, it was a sloppy show from New Zealand with the bat tonight. One six in the innings, that from Tim Southee. Until Jamieson came in at No9, the batsmen above him had his five fours. He matched that on his own. There was no effort to get things moving early, they just handed Australia the ideal start by barely scoring.
The Australians did go at the game with a bit more ferocity, with Maxwell and Stoinis both scoring quickly even if they didn’t rack up big numbers. In the end Finch’s embattled innings while batting the whole 20 overs was key, because he built up enough substance with his first 50-odd runs, and then was there for Jamieson’s poor over right at the end to clear the fence four times – Finch’s only sixes for the match.
He wins player of the match for his efforts.
Unconvincing from both sides, really, but they’ll have one more chance on Sunday to blow out the cobwebs and go for a big finale. We’ll be here on the OBO.
WICKET! Jamieson c Maxwell b K. Richardson 30 (18), NZ 106 all out
18.5 overs: NZ 106-10 (Boult 6) Another belted swing of the horizontal bat from Jamieson but Kane Richardson gets a touch on it in his follow-through, saving the umpire from danger. Not so from the next legal delivery, as Jamieson hits the midwicket fence with an absolute rocket. He’s got one shot, basically. Flat-bat whack. It works. Knocks away a single, then Boult edges one over short midwicket. Richardson pitches up, and with two balls left in the over Jamieson wants to go big again with a straighter bat. He gets a good piece but not the full distance, and Maxwell at wide long on finishes the match.
18th over: NZ 99-9 (Jamieson 25, Boult 5) Another boundary for Jamieson, thick edge off Jhye Richardson’s length ball through deep third. Leans back and rifles the next ball to long off. Boult scampers a single to point. Jamieson bludgeons another to cover. Every ball he hits is an absolute wind-up whack. Kane comes over from mid off to have a chat to his fellow Richardson. Full length, full pace, hit nicely but straight to Kane. Fresh air on the attempted cut to close the over.
Seven runs from the over. If the batsmen had done through the rest of NZ’s innings they’d be in a position to win this.
17th over: NZ 92-9 (Jamieson 19, Boult 4) Jamieson has batted quite nicely at times tonight. When you can get a clean swing at the ball at his height, you get power. He flat-bats Zampa dead straight for four, then hits the next just as well but straight to the midwicket sweeper for one. Boult gets to face some bowling, which he was denied the other night, and he gets low in a crouch and hockey-slaps Zampa over the bowler’s head for four! Nice one.
I refuse to use an exclamation mark for that one. House style be damned. Sodhi tries to go over cover and instead drops it on the head of mid off. Zampa gets his second wicket.
16th over: NZ 81-8 (Jamieson 13, Sodhi 0) Agar’s night finishes at 2 for 11 from four overs. The runs from that over were to Jamieson, with a two and a one before he took the strike back while Conway’s catch was in the air, then scored another single. That makes 13, which means he’s made back half of what he conceded in his final over to Finch.
Ashton Agar is the one who started NZ off on this failing trajectory, with 1 for 7 from his first three overs. He returns for his fourth over and has Conway mistiming to long off for a tumbling catch.
15th over: NZ 77-7 (Conway 17, Jamieson 9) Devon Conway had a great night last week when he thundered 99 not out. He’s barely had strike tonight, and found it very difficult to time anything. Singles only, as it was for most of Finch’s innings. Jamieson is thew new batsman, and he uses his height to hit a Meredith length ball as though it were a half volley, getting under it down the ground for four to long on. Gets a shorter ball, predictably, and heaves a pull shot at it, top edge to a fine third man for four more. Backs away and misses the final ball of the over but they run a bye. A dozen from the over.
WICKET! Southee c Wade b K. Richardson 6 (4), NZ 64-7
Is there anything less interesting than a match with this trajectory? It’s the cricket version of the final minutes of a 0-0 draw. Southee leans back to clobber one six over deep midwicket, but tries again next ball and sends it straight up, for Wade to trot back and catch. Kane Richardson has two.
13th over: NZ 57-6 (Conway 13) Finally a boundary for New Zealand, but it has to be donated by Australia. Meredith and Kane Richardson converge at the deep midwicket boundary and then both think that the other one is about to dive. In the end they both stop, and stare at one another as the ball passes between them for four. In conciliation Finch gives Maxwell a DRS shot after hitting Conway on the pad. Umpire’s call on the leg stump, not out. But the final ball of the over brings the wicket again, as has done so often tonight. Santner tries a big cross-bat whack at a ball outside off stump, and drags it off the bottom edge into his sticks.
12th over: NZ 51-5 (Conway 9, Santner 2) New Zealand raise the 50, and deserve a polite ripple of Test match applause. Five down. If they were England in India this would be a decent score. The Kiwis haven’t score more than 5 runs in an over for the last eight overs.
This is a soggy effort from New Zealand tonight. A bowl of old Weet-Bix. “Oh fuck,” says Neesham audibly on the stump mic as he slaps Zampa’s wrong ‘un straight to cover, proving that at least he can match the Australian captain in lamenting his own shots.
11th over: NZ 46-4 (Conway 7, Neesham 2) Maxwell carries on with the ball, and there’s another problem for New Zealand as Conway top-edges a sweep shot into the grille on his helmet. Has to get checked and cleared by the medical staff to continue. Four singles and a wide from the over, and NZ have barely hit a ball in anger tonight.
10th over: NZ 41-4 (Conway 5) Three runs from five Zampa deliveries, the pressure mounting, and the New Zealanders do themselves in. Phillips taps straight to Philippe at cover and sets off for a run. Conway responds to the call. Phillips stops a couple of steps later, and Conway stops in turn. Then Phillips keeps going, but by that point a risky single has become an impossible single, and Conway fairly enough has started turning back. They end up racing for the same line, and Conway gets home first.
9th over: NZ 38-3 (Conway 2, Phillips 1) Maxwell’s over returns 1 for 4, and the Australian bowlers can’t miss tonight. NZ need 119 from 166. It was their game up until the 20th over of Australia’s innings. Then Finch looted 26 runs to make a small target into a medium one, and now the Kiwis have played timidly, passively, and let that medium target become a large, trending towards XXL.
WICKET! Williamson c Marsh b Maxwell 8 (12), NZ 36-3
Talk about striking gold. Glenn Maxwell has got the biggest nugget of the night. Holding back the pace a bit with his off-break, Williamson is through his sweep too early, and gets the toe of the bat to loop confusingly away towards point, where Mitch Marsh comes barrelling in and claims the catch while falling to ground.
8th over: NZ 34-2 (Williamson 7, Conway 0) A leave to finish the over from the left-handed Devon Conway, and Richardson’s over has gone for four runs and taken a wicket.
Kane Richardson now, who bowls change-ups and tends to bang the ball into the pitch, looking for variation in bounce. Draws a couple of pull shots first up from Seifert, the first one saved at midwicket and the second for a single. Williamson tries the same shot and top-edges it over the keeper, picking up two streaky runs. Charges the next ball, trying to change the length, and uppercuts it on the bounce to third man for one. Then on the fifth ball of the over the hard length strikes gold. Seifert just hops on his toes trying to run the ball away, doesn’t time it, squeezes it from his angled bat back onto the stumps.
7th over: NZ 30-1 (Seifert 18, Williamson 4) Adam Zampa has been down on the boundary line cradling a hot-water bottle, trying to get his leg-spinning fingers working on a cold evening. Nothing aggressive from the batting pair as they push singles to cover, long off, point. Zampa bowls flat at the stumps for the most part, no air as yet.
6th over: NZ 25-1 (Seifert 15, Williamson 2) Meredith bowling, probably because he got Williamson out on Wednesday night. Not bad on debut. Williamson is conscious of it, defending the first three balls of the over in Test match style. Full and straight. Squared up by a slightly shorter ball, thick edge and now Finch has placed a third man who keeps the scoring to one. Seifert drives wide of mid on for another run, and that makes two singles from the over.
5th over: NZ 23-1 (Seifert 14, Williamson 1) New Zealand’s captain Kane Williamson to the middle at first drop. Checks a drive in the air to short cover, but nobody is home. Agar has taken 1 for 7 from three overs!
New Zealand need 134 runs from 90 balls. Not a doddle on this surface.
Agar early does the trick. His third over, Guptill keeps his shape and drives over cover, and Maxwell comes around from long off to deep extra, catching it just inside the rope, and casually tossing the ball up before he steps out of the field of play, steps back in and takes the rebound.
4th over: NZ 21-0 (Guptill 7, Seifert 13) Jhye Richardson to bowl express, and for the first three balls it works. A single, two dots, the screws turning. But Finch doesn’t have a deep third man for a fast bowler, which can invite trouble, and trouble comes. First Seifert squeezes a yorker between the toe of the bat and the ground, and it bounces fine for four. Then he drives and gets a thick edge the same way, same result. Neither the result of bad bowling, but it goes against him.
3rd over: NZ 12-0 (Guptill 6, Seifert 5) Another over for Agar, and the first boundary comes off him as Seifert stretches forward to sweep. Agar follows up though with a ball that turns away and brings a leading edge towards mid off, then a ball too full to sweep that sneaks through the shot to the keeper. A great diving stop from Finch at short cover saves more potential runs. Five runs from two overs for Agar. NZ can’t leave too much of the scoring to tomorrow.
2nd over: NZ 8-0 (Guptill 6, Seifert 1) Meredith’s turn now, the opposite of Agar in every way. Right arm and as fast as they come. He targets the pads, bowling straight, giving little away for most of the over. A couple of singles in the first six balls. But one of them is a wide, so he has to bowl a seventh. Tries a bouncer, but Guptill doesn’t mind those. He just holds his bat up above his shoulder and uppercuts for four.
1st over: NZ 1-0 (Guptill 1, Seifert 0) Having seen Santner’s work up close, Finch throws the ball to his own left-arm spinner to start proceedings. Agar basically turns himself into a yorker bowler, aiming for the blockhole six times out of six, and getting a bit of turn on a couple of occasions. Only a single from the over.
Jack Jorgensen writes in an email. “I see Matthew Wade has made a start and not gone on with it again. All this talk about Finch obscures the lack of runs from a few other players. Wade’s position must be under threat as well. Carey making runs in the BBL, and now in the Marsh Cup, and Phillipe in the side, I’m not sure what Wade provides either of those others don’t. When Warner is fit he comes in over Wade for mine, rather than Finch.”
Yeah, it’s an interesting one. I think that Wade was so prolific in every format for a solid couple of home seasons that he thoroughly deserved his recall to the Test team and the T20 team. But after a pretty big sample size he hasn’t replicated that run-scoring for Australia, and so maybe his race is close to having been run. He can be such a destructive T20 player though, he’s the kind of player who could win a couple of World Cup knockouts.
Well, if you looked at the card and saw a player with 79 from 55 balls, you’d think they had a decent day out. Finch hit a couple of boundaries early, was 12 from 10 balls, then made 41 from his next 39, almost entirely in singles. Really struggled to get anything away, until in the final five balls of the match, facing a very ropey bowler who has struggled throughout the series, he suddenly added 24 runs. No other big scores today, the next best were 19 from Stoinis and 18 from Maxwell.
Santner was excellent with 1 for 16 from his four overs. Boult took 2 for 27, Sodhi 3 for 32, and Southee’s 0 for 32 was decent. Jamieson ended up going for 49.
Now it’s up to New Zealand to deal with Australia’s spinners, and not let them slow down the second innings in the same way.
20th over: Australia 156-6 (Finch 79, J. Richardson 4) Jamieson to bowl the last over, and Finch slices a wide full ball high over backward point, where it plugs for two more runs. Still can’t find the boundary. But then Jamieson bowls him a stinker, a high full toss outside off stump, and Finch is able to lean back and clobber it for six! Over cover, easy as can be, and Finch should send Jamieson a thank-you note.
Suddenly the Australian captain is feeling better. Gets a half-volley on that same wide line next ball, and hits that for six to the same spot. Jamieson bowls straight but bowls the same length, at the pads, and Finch clears out his front leg for six number three. Very straight this time, just to the long on side.
Swings and misses at the fifth ball, but the sixth is yet another half-volley and he hits that for six over midwicket. Simple as you like. A game of contrasts.
Finch has gone up to 103 T20 sixes for Australia in that last over.
19th over: Australia 130-6 (Finch 53, J. Richardson 4) Low full toss from Southee, following Finch as the batsman tries to back away, and Finch cracks that one with a beautiful sound, but hits it so well that he can only get a single, the ball rocketing to the man on the fence. Richardson nudges a run off his hip to give the strike back, and then Finch can’t get a run, nailed in the blockhole by Southee and getting nothing but the toe of the bat on the ball. The next is a slower-ball yorker, looping onto that full length on about off stump, and Finch backing away drags it wide of long on, cursing the shot audibly as once again he can’t get all of it. Two runs, taking him to a half-century, but he doesn’t celebrate at all. You can see why. 50 from 46 balls after batting the whole innings – that ain’t it, chief. He gets two more in similar fashion from the next ball, then a single from the last to keep the strike, down to long off.
Quite amusing that the telly is showing replays of the dragged shot for fifty while you can hear Finch yelling “Oh, you’re fucking kidding me!” in the background.
18th over: Australia 123-6 (Finch 47, J. Richardson 3) Three overs left for Finch to salvage something. He trades singles with Richardson, then manages to flick a full ball down to long leg for four. Tries to launch over mid on but only chips it for one run to the fielder. Three singles and the boundary, that’s the lot from Boult’s over.
17th over: Australia 116-6 (Finch 41, J. Richardson 2) So, a boundary for Finch at last, his fourth for the night. Opens the face and hits Sodhi over cover well enough. Marsh gets out a couple of balls later, and it’s Jhye Richardson to the crease, groping at his first ball as Sodhi turns it away from the edge, then getting tangled up trying to turn to the leg side. He backs away and pulls two from the last ball of the over.
Finch has retaken top spot from David Warner as Australia’s leading T20I run-scorer, but he’s done it tonight with one of his least convincing innings.
A third wicket for Sodhi, Marsh trying a sweep shot to a flighted ball that pitches very full, and bounces to take a top edge that goes high but straight to short fine leg.
16th over: Australia 109-5 (Finch 36, Marsh 6) Southee bowling now, and Finch opens the face and guides a single away as though he’s 28 overs into an ODI. There are 29 balls left. Marsh is able to do better, coming across to pull the ball through fine leg for four. A single to midwicket swaps the strike, then Finch tries to find a boundary, waiting for a slower ball yorker that doesn’t quite reach yorker length, there to hit but he can only force two runs past the bowler. Finch has 36 from 39 having batted the whole innings.
15th over: Australia 100-5 (Finch 32, Marsh 1) Santner is back for his fourth over and again he’s causing problems. Turn, another leading edge that falls safe towards cover. Bounce that discomfits Finch, making him stab away behind point and then take a single that isn’t really there, and Mitchell Marsh only reaches safety because the throw comes via the keeper’s gloves rather than hitting the stumps directly.
Three singles from the over, and Finch on 32 after 15 overs.
14th over: Australia 97-5 (Finch 30) Agar gets pushed up the order again, second time this series, and again it doesn’t work. Finch starts the over with a brace and a one, then Agar can’t find a run, although twice he’s dudded when the umpire doesn’t call wide. One ball was down leg side over his shoulder, the other was about a metre over his head and called as one short ball for the over. Boult switches things up for his final delivery, full and maybe swinging a touch, and Agar’s big drive misses.
WICKET! Stoinis c Williamson b Sodhi 19 (13), Australia 93-4
13th over: Australia 93-4 (Finch 27) Stoinis should be run out at the non-striker’s end but Williamson fumbles the take early in the over. Finch drops the ball to midwicket and calls for the second but Phillips comes flying in and rips in a return. Williamson can’t hang on. Stoinis follows up by backing away and carving him over cover for four. But when he tries to nail the sixth ball of the over, fuller with a conventional drive, in the same direction, Williamson makes amends by diving across to his right for a great snare.
12th over: Australia 85-3 (Finch 24, Stoinis 14) A couple of dot balls for Stoinis, then he leans and and absolutely destroys Jamieson for six. Not that short a delivery but Stoinis gets under it with his own version of the pull shot, one that’s all about power, and the crack off the bat is sublime as it takes off before crash-landing way back in the seating bowl beyond deep midwicket.
11th over: Australia 77-3 (Finch 23, Stoinis 7) Santner is the bowler drawing mistakes again, as he returns to the crease. Gets a thick edge from Stoinis, and there is a slip in place but it flies just wide for four. Three singles from the over in addition to that.
10th over: Australia 70-3 (Finch 21, Stoinis 2) How many times would Aaron Finch have reached the halfway mark of a T20 innings with 21 runs or fewer to his name? He’s got Stoinis with him to do some hitting now, and he starts with two runs over cover. Nice hit.
WICKET! Maxwell c Guptill b Boult 18 (9), Australia 68-3
It was fast and it was furious. Two runs for Maxwell glanced down to fine leg, four more runs thanks to a big outside edge, then Boult floats a half-volley up and Maxwell doesn’t deal with the slowed-up pace. Plays the cover drive but can’t decide whether to smash it or caress it, goes halfway, and hits it to Guptill at cover.
“Why doesn’t he play conventional shots?” Ah yes, it’s impossible to get out to conventional shots.
9th over: Australia 61-2 (Finch 20, Maxwell 12) A brace and a single for Finch against Sodhi, and Maxwell says that he’s had enough waiting around. Loves to take on the spinners. Backs away and slaps Sodhi through cover for four, catchable height but gets the gap nicely and it runs wide enough to beat long off.
Next ball, it’s the switch hit for six! Swaps his legs over, not his hands this time, but ends up wayyyy outside his off stump by the time he hits the ball, his front foot almost off the pitch, and clobbers it over cover point into the seats. Shot.
8th over: Australia 48-2 (Finch 17, Maxwell 2) Enter Maxwell, after his five sixes and eight fours the other night. He starts with a couple of singles here, and misses an uppercut against Jamieson. Maxwell holds the pose, making sure the umpire knows that he couldn’t reach it, and it is duly called a wide. Jamieson lets another ball go down the leg side. Four singles and the two wides from the over.
WICKET! Philippe c Southee b Sodhi 13 (17), Australia 42-2
7th over: Australia 42-2 (Finch 15) Ish Sodhi on to bowl some leg-breaks now that New Zealand can have more fielders in the deep. Philippe nearly finds one of them with an inside-out drive over cover, but it drops short. Two near misses for him today, after he had five or six near chances in his innings of 43 the other night. But his luck runs out from the final ball of the over. After picking up a couple of singles, he gets Sodhi’s variation that is pushed out the front of the hand, a delivery that floats through the air and wobbles as it crawls down the wicket. Philippe goes back and tries to lift it over square leg, but he only goes upwards rather than across, and it’s caught by Southee tracking back towards deep square.
6th over: Australia 38-1 (Finch 13, Philippe 11) Spared by a DRS review. Southee gets a length ball to deck back in a bit, hits Philippe in front of off stump as he tries to whip to the onside, and he’s given out, but he’s up on his toes and is hit above the knee roll, on the crease. Should be spared here for height... and he is, the ball going over the bails. Philippe looked ready to walk but his captain told him to review. He celebrates by waiting on a Southee slower ball outside off stump and slashing it away with a diagonal bat for four. Scurries a single to end the fielding restrictions period, and Australia have 38 runs in those first six overs. New Zealand have had the better of things so far, but wickets in hand mean that the Aussies could catch up.
5th over: Australia 33-1 (Finch 13, Philippe 6) Santner still getting some turn away from the right-handers, and he draws a leading edge from both batsmen in this over as they try to turn him to the leg side. Both times the edge shoots away behind point, Philippe’s edge going not far from slip, but getting through Jamieson at short third to roll for three runs. Five from the over, another good one.
4th over: Australia 28-1 (Finch 12, Philippe 2) Here comes Kyle Jamieson. Had a brilliant start to his Test career but has battled to land the ball where he wants to in the shortest form. Finch knows that the field is back, and he knows that the default length of a two-metre-plus player will be shortish, so he leans back to spoon a pull shot over midwicket for four, then anticipates a fuller length and skips down to spoon that one over mid on. Neither of them especially clean shots, but they just need to be helped over the field at this stage of the innings.
3rd over: Australia 19-1 (Finch 4, Philippe 1) Some variation for Santner too, as he follows up his straight-ball wicket by turning one past the edge of Finch’s bat. Only a single to Philippe conceded from the spinner’s first over.
WICKET! Wade c Sodhi b Santner 14 (10), Australia 18-1
Masterstroke from Williamson. Only three overs into the match, with fielding restrictions still in place, the skipper brings on his left-arm spinner. Santner comes around the wicket to Wade looking to angle the ball across. The first couple of deliveries Wade can’t beat the field square of the wicket on the off side, so the third ball he tries to open the face and late cut. Gets more bounce than he anticipates, a quick delivery from Santner, and it takes the top edge to short third.
2nd over: Australia 18-0 (Wade 14, Finch 4) Trent Boult with the new ball from the other end, the left-arm swing maestro. Got a slip in position, Guptill standing wide of the keeper. Tries a sharp bouncer instead of looking for a nick, and Wade hooks it firmly off his grille for a single. His ball to Finch is only halfway up though, on the hip, and Finch can easily pull that behind square for four. Boult hits back nicely, full and swinging in so nearly nailing the front pad, but Finch squeezes an inside edge.
1st over: Australia 11-0 (Wade 11, Finch 0) First ball of the match, four. Width from Southee across the left-hander, and pitched up, so Wade drives through long off. Didn’t nail it but gets enough to beat mid off.
Gets enough of the next one, though! Plays the pick-up shot to take a ball from outside the off stump, not short and only on a length, but he’s able to get under it and lift it miles into the air before it lands in a doorway in the distant grandstand. A single to follow and that’s all the scoring from the over.
A bit of pressure off Finch in the last match, when he made 69 runs after a long string of low scores through the Big Bash and IPL. One half-century won’t win everyone over if he backs it up with a couple more single-figure efforts, but if he can back it up here with something reasonable then that will help a lot.
Unchanged XI for Australia, NZ bring Mitchell Santner back in now that he’s been cleared of COVID concerns with Mark Chapman making way.
Australia Aaron Finch * Matthew Wade + Josh Philippe Glenn Maxwell Marcus Stoinis Mitchell Marsh Ashton Agar Jhye Richardson Kane Richardson Adam Zampa Riley Meredith
New Zealand Martin Guptill Tim Seifert + Kane Williamson * Devon Conway Glenn Phillips James Neesham Mitchell Santner Kyle Jamieson Tim Southee Ish Sodhi Trent Boult
Interesting. The other day, both teams wanted to chase on this ground. Kane Williamson got that choice and it didn’t work for New Zealand. Today, Aaron Finch has the choice and he elects to bat first again. It did seem a bit difficult to time shots on this wicket, and that may get more difficult as the night wears on.
Cricket time! Not that there is any shortage of cricket right at the moment, except in the Pakistan Super League which has been cancelled. Or ‘postponed’, which is the favourite word of cricket boards in pandemic times. There’s a Test match between England and India happening as we speak, the NSW women’s team just beat the ACT in a 50-over game, as did Victoria against Queensland. The New Zealand women’s team just got smashed by England in their T20 International match in Wellington, so now it’s up to the men’s Kiwi side to bring a bit of cheer to home crowds.
They lead the series 2-1 and could seal it with a win today, but Australia hit back with a big win in the previous match on Wednesday after being off the pace for the first two. Ashton Agar took six wickets, Riley Meredith bowled heat, after Glenn Maxwell set up a very tall target by belting 70 off 30 balls before he got out, and breaking a seat at the Cake Tin ground which is now being auctioned for funds to support a women’s shelter in Wellington.
If you want to buy it, the price is still under a grand.
