Wellington, Wednesday: Spinner Ashton Agar produced the best bowling performance in Australia’s Twenty20 international history in a 64-run win over New Zealand in Wellington yesterday.
Agar’s match-turning six for 30, including three in one over, derailed a New Zealand fightback as Australia avoided a series loss in the third Twenty20 international.
Under-fire skipper Aaron Finch hit 69, his best T20 international score for more than two years, and Glenn Maxwell smashed 70 from 31 balls.
The result leaves the five-match series at 2-1 in New Zealand’s favour with two games to go.
Only four players have taken six wickets in a T20 international before, none of them from Australia. In the face of the Australian onslaught, the Black Caps lacked the swagger of the opening two matches, with shellshocked all-rounder Jimmy Neesham conceding 28 runs in a single over as Maxwell ran riot.
Opener Martin Guptill’s 43 and a Devon Conway knock of 38 were highlights for New Zealand.
But Agar snuffed out hopes of a home victory with six consecutive wickets that took the New Zealanders from 109 for four to 144 for nine.
Chief scores
Australia: 208/4 in 20 overs (A. Finch 69, J. Philippe 43, G. Maxwell 70, I. Sodhi 2/32)
New Zealand: 144 in 17.1 overs (M. Guptill 43, D. Conway 38, Meredith 2/24, Agar 6/30). AFP
No comments:
Post a Comment