Australia Vs New Zealand, The Grand Finale Quick Review – Mitchell Marsh etches his name in history with a memorable knock as the Kiwis find the runners up podium once again.
Toss: Australia won the toss and chose to field first.
Venue: Dubai International Stadium, Dubai, UAE
Umpires: Marais Erasmus & Richard Kettleborough
What Actually Happened – Pakistan Vs Australia
Winner:Australia won by 8 wickets
Scores: New Zealand172/4 Australia 173/2
Player of the Match:Mitchell Marsh 77* (50)
Best Figures
Josh Hazlewood (4-0-16-3), Adam Zampa (4-0-26-1)
Trent Boult (4-0-18-2)
Most Runs
Kane Williamson 85 (48)
Mitchell Marsh 77* (50), David Warner 53 (38)
Player of the Tournament: David Warner
Moments of The Day: Williamson Plays World Cup Final Knock of the Ages; Marsh-Warner Combination One Step Better
New Zealand
New Zealand had two strong performers—Kane Williamson with the bat and Trent Boult with the ball.
NZ began brightly with Daryl Mitchell’s positive approach against Maxwell, however things quietened down after his wicket. Test match bowling lengths by Hazlewood & Cummins strangled the experienced duo of Guptill & Williamson.
From 27-1 in 3.1 overs, NZ could only get to 32/1 by the end of the Powerplay, 40 by the end of 8 overs, and 57 at the end of the 10th. At the halfway stage, Williamson 18 (19) & Guptill 27 (33). Then came Starc’s over. Dropped by Hazlewood, & 4-4-4 including a waist height no-ball. 19-run over, NZ back in the game, and Williamson would hit 67 runs in his last 29 balls. Shots & sixes all around the ground. One of the best World Cup innings you will ever see.
The bowling figures of the Kiwi bowlers were sub-par. The economies were—11.21, 13.33, 15.00, 7.66, & 7.50. Sodhi & Neesham went for 55 runs in their 4 together. Only one bowler gave New Zealand hope, Trent Boult. 4-0-18-2. 4.50 economy. Boult’s wicket of Warner almost sparked New Zealand alive, and the tough dropped catch off his own bowling in his final over was the final hope.
Australia
Australia’s victorious campaigns had three consistent cogs—Hazlewood, Zampa, & Warner—around which the matchwinners Stoinis, Maxwell, and Wade rotated. Today, the consistent 3 came to the party once again.
When Kane Willamson was going haywire, Hazelwood, Zampa, & Cummins combined for figures of 12-0-69-4. The other three went for about a 100 runs in 8 overs. After Starc’s 22-run 16th over, NZ were in pole position with 136/2 in 16 overs. Good death bowling and slower deliveries ensured NZ only get 36 from the late 4 with wickets in hand.
The moment where the game turned was after Finch’s dismissal. Australia 15/1 in 2.3 overs. What does Mitch Marsh do first ball in a pressure final? Hits it for six! He did not look back after that. Australia did not look back after that. 92 (59) partnership between Warner & Marsh and a 66* (39) partnership between Marsh & Maxwell ensured World Cup victory. Finally, a classic reverse hit from Maxwell against Southee to seal the deal.
Nobody hates you anymore, Mitch Marsh 😊👏
Chuffed for Mitchell Marsh.
Remember this from the 2019 Ashes when @beastieboy07 asked him about how he's viewed back in Australia: "Yeah, most of Australia hate me." Probably not anymore, Mitch #T20WorldCuppic.twitter.com/REJJlI7PUL
It was only fitting that Shane Watson, player of the 2012 T20 World Cup, and Australia’s first T20I star was present in the commentary box.
He was the first Australian IPL star who made it big in the international arena and represented Australia for all the six World Cups until 2016. Although he did not win a T20 World Cup, it was only fitting that Watson was there for the moment that Maxwell hit the winning runs.
What a refreshing commentary debut he has had on the World Cup stage as well. Loved his analysis and you could see that this man loves every aspect of the game of cricket.
The winning moment 🇦🇺🏆 Simon Doull and Shane Watson in the com box 🎙️
The best part of the ending of a World Cup is the celebration. Here are some of the few videos that have come out on social media. Lovely stuff, watch out for Stoinis.
Broken Cricket Dream of the Day: New Zealand Ends Up Second Best…Again
Broken Dream #1 – End of an Era?
Mitchell Starc was the player of the 2015 ODI World Cup. Martin Guptill hit a memorable 237 and was one of the centers of NZ’s inspirational campaign in 2015.
In this World Cup, although Starc chipped in with a couple of wickets in most of the games & Guptill starred with a 93 in the UAE heat, today was a match losing performance by both oif these legendary players.
Guptill’s 27 (35) at a SR of 80.00 drained the energy out of the Kiwi batting and Starc’s 4-0-60-0 almost took the game away from Australia. Starc is approaching 32, and as a fast bowler, might focus on elongating his Test career, while Guptill is 35. It might be time for him to focus on ODI cricket and make way at the top in T20Is for someone like Tim Seifert.
Broken Dream #2 – Have New Zealand Underachieved?
The New Zealand cricket team has always been characterized as a “collective unit,” a team that “punches above their weight.” From 1975-2011, this was probably true.
6 ODI World Cup Semi Finals (1975, 1979, 1992, 1999, 2007, 2011)
3 ICC Champions/Knockouts Trophy Semi Finals (Semifinalists in 2006, Runners up in 2009, Winner in 2000)
1 T20 World Cup Semi Finals (2007)
Since the 2015 ODI World Cup, New Zealand has been one of the teams to beat. Their recent records stand as follows:
2 ODI World Cup Finals (2015, 2019 – barely lost)
2 T20 World Cup Semi Finals (Semifinalists in 2016, Runners Up in 2021)
1 World Test Championship Winners (2021)
New Zealand are the WTC champions, but the fact they did not lift any of the last 4 limited overs trophy means they have underachieved, not overachieved.
Image Courtesy: Graphic (original work), Kyle Coetzer – Photo by Francois Nel-ICC/ICC via Getty Images, Mahmudullah – Photo by Mike Hewitt-ICC/ICC via Getty Images
Toss: Australia won the toss and chose to field first.
Venue: Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai, UAE
Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena & Nitin Menon
What Actually Happened
Winner: Australia won by 8 wickets
Scores: Bangladesh 73/10Australia 78/2
Player of the Match:Adam Zampa 5/19
Best Figures
Adam Zampa (4-0-19-5)
Shoriful Islam (1-0-9-1)
Most Runs
Shamim Hossain 19 (18)
Aaron Finch 40 (20)
Moments of The Day: All-Round Australia Boost Their NRR
Starc set the tone for Australia with a full ball to dismiss Liton Das. Bat and bowled, played on. Next over, Hazelwood to Soumya Sarkar. Played on. Mushfiqur missed a straight one from Maxwell. Then came Zampa and ate up the rest of the middle order. Wicket first ball and then toppled Bangladesh from 62/5 to 73/10.
Australia knew that to topple South Africa, they had to boost their NRR. Bowling out Bangladesh was 73 was just the first part (South Africa had bowled Bangladesh for 84). However, Finch’s 40 (20) & Mitchell Marsh’s 16 (5), including a last ball six ensured Australia jump ahead of South Africa.
Broken Cricket Dream of the Day: One Time An Mistake, Twice An Issue
When West Indies were bowled out for 55, we knew it was an aberration, although it showed their weaknesses.
Bangladesh’s 84/10 against South Africa could have been brushed aside as an aberration. Last game, no Shakib, I thought we would see a different, more positive Bangladesh. Clearly that was not the case. 73/10 – larger issue is at play. Liton Das, Soumya Sarkar have not flourished despite numerous opportunities. No replacement for the seniors Fab Four either. Where does Bangladesh go from here?
T20 World Cup Points Table, Most Runs, Wickets, Catches, Dismissals
No need to go elsewhere for thePoints Table, Highest Run Scorer, Highest Wicket Taker, Most Catches, and Most Dismissals. We will keep updating it in every article!
Image Courtesy: Graphic (original work), Kyle Coetzer – Photo by Francois Nel-ICC/ICC via Getty Images, Mahmudullah – Photo by Mike Hewitt-ICC/ICC via Getty Images
Toss: Australia won the toss and chose to field first.
Venue: Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai, UAE
Umpires: Aleem Dar & Richard Illingworth
What Actually Happened
Winner: Australia won by 7 wickets
Scores: Sri Lanka 154/6 – Australia 155/3
Player of the Match: Adam Zampa 2/12
Best Figures
Adam Zampa (4-0-12-2)
Wanindu Hasaranga (4-0-22-2)
Most Runs
Charith Asaslanka 35 (27), Kusal Perera 35 (25)
David Warner 65 (42)
Moments of The Day: Australia Has Woken Up
When Kusal Perera & Charith Asalanaka were batting, Sri Lanka could do no wrong. The pulls and straight sixes were a delight to watch. Sri Lanka’s promise was coming back.SL 78/1 in 9.3 overs.
Then came the duo of Mitchell Starc and Adam Zampa. Within three overs, Sri Lanka collapsed to 94/5, including a beautiful yorker by Starc to Perera. Another good innings by Rajapaksa (33*) and support from captain Dasun Shanaka got SL to a decent 154/6.
However this was no challenge for Australia as the old horse returned. 70 run opening partnership (Finch 37) and Warner’s 65 silenced the critics. Also, who said Steve Smith cannot bat in T20s? He has been crucial in these low scoring chases recently.
Warner, Finch, Smith, Starc, Cummins, Hazlewood, Zampa all found form. Australia are smelling a World Cup semi-final spot. Beware of this team.
Broken Cricket Dream of the Day: Sri Lanka Finally Lose
Sri Lanka’s journey in this World Cup has been pitch perfect. For the first hour, it seemed that the new style of their cricket would take them to a fifth victory. That was not to be, and now couple of crucial games follow due to this loss.
The Broken Dream of the Day – Kusal Perera’s dropped catch – Has to rank among the worst dropped catches of all time and let Warner back into the game.
No need to go elsewhere for the Points Table, Highest Run Scorer, Highest Wicket Taker, Most Catches, and Most Dismissals. We will keep updating it in every article!
Mahmudullah – 150 runs (Bangladesh, 6 Matches)
Shakib Al Hasan – 11 wickets (Bangladesh, 4 Matches)
Calum MacLeod – 6 catches (Scotland, 5 Matches)
Nurul Hasan, Matthew Cross (Bangladesh/Scotland) – 5 dismissals
Group 1 Table
Teams
Played
Won
Lost
Tied No-Result
Points
Net Run Rate
1. England
2
2
0
0
4
+ 3.614
2. Australia
2
2
0
0
4
+ 0.727
3. South Africa
2
1
1
0
2
+ 0.179
4. Sri Lanka
2
1
1
0
2
– 0.416
5. West Indies
3
1
2
0
2
– 1.598
6. Bangladesh
3
0
3
0
0
– 1.069
T20 World Cup 2021 Group 1 Points Table
Group 2 Table
Teams
Played
Won
Lost
Tied No-Result
Points
Net Run Rate
1. Pakistan
3
3
0
0
6
+ 0.638
2. Afghanistan
2
1
1
0
2
+ 3.092
3. Namibia
1
0
1
0
2
+ 0.550
4. New Zealand
1
0
1
0
0
– 0.532
5. India
1
0
1
0
0
– 0.973
6. Scotland
2
0
0
0
2
– 3.562
T20 World Cup 2021 Group 2 Points Table
Also, if you have not yet read our T20 World Cup Previews, here is a list of all of them! Check them out and share ahead:
Image Courtesy: Graphic (original work), Kyle Coetzer – Photo by Francois Nel-ICC/ICC via Getty Images, Mahmudullah – Photo by Mike Hewitt-ICC/ICC via Getty Images
India Vs Australia – a friendly evenly contested series.
India revived their 1992 jersey, and the tour started accordingly with twin defeats via the brilliance of Steven Smith. This tour will be remembered for the Australia media’s fascination for ‘King’ Kohli, international fielding of grade-school standards, emergence of Hardik Pandya, the Jadeja-Chahal concussion fiasco, and Wade’s non-review.
Australia, on the other hand, erased the poor IPL 2020 memories. Aaron Finch, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell – all came back with a bang. Good performances by youngsters and comeback kids as well.
Here are my picks for the best moments of the series, the emerging players, and where these two teams go from here? COMMENT BELOW ON YOUR FAVORITE MOMENTS.
India still have not solved their middle muddle. Shreyas Iyer returned with scores of 2, 38, 19, 12*, and 0 across formats. None of India’s batsman bowl and none of the bowlers bat well. The #4 position and the 6th bowling option is still a major worry.
Chahal leaked 89 & 71 runs and was eventually dropped for the third. Although he was the man of the match in the first T20I, it is still a matter of concern in the flat ODI pitches. Time to bring Kul-Cha back together?
First time since 2008 that Virat Kohli has not registered a century. Came close with a 89 and 63, but 2020 has just been that kind of year.
Shardul Thakur has a knack of taking wickets as we can see from his 3/51 in the 3rd ODI.
T20Is
Although Sanju Samson gave India impetus with innings like 23(14) and 15(9), it was just not enough. With the likes of Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan, and Suryakumar Yadav in the background, Samson may not have too long of a rope.
Hardik Pandya dedicated his Player of Series award to T. Natarajan and deservingly so. Although Pandya finished things off, Natarajan’s 3/30, 2/20, and 1/33 were crucial to limit India’s targets.
India have found a balance in the finishing power. If one of the top order batsmen fail to finish the chase, Pandya will. If Pandya fails, Jadeja will.
In 2016, Manish Pandey was among the rising stars scoring an unbeaten century in a 300+ run chase. Forward to 2020. Did not get a game in the ODIs and struggled in his only T20I opportunity – 2 (8).
Australia
ODIs
Steven Smith famously said a month ago that he “found his hand.” He was not joking as he displayed with scores of 105and 104 in just around 62 balls both innings. WOW.
Glenn Maxwell could not hit a fly in IPL 2020. Put the Australia jersey on and boy, was he on fire? The entire 2 months of IPL – 0 sixes. 3 ODIs, 3 T20Is – 16 sixes in total including quickfire 45(19), 63*(29), 59 (38), 54 (36), 22 (13) across formats. Australia have found their finisher.
Although Smith & Maxwell were the catalyst, the solid platform provided by Aaron Finch with 2-100s and 1-50. He is growing in his captaincy role as well.
Does Australia have a Mitchell Starc problem? 1/65, 0/82, & wide balls does not reflect the stature of Starc.
The leggie Mitchell Swepson joins the party. His 1st wicket of the series? None other than Virat Kohli.
Moises Henriques made a comeback with important contributions with both bat and ball. In the 2nd T20I – 3/22 in his 4 overs along with a 30(20) got Australia close to the target.
We like to spice things up with our own awards for the series. Here they are:
Australia
India
Emerging Player
Mitchell Swepson
T Natarajan
Surprise Package
Matthew Wade/ Moises Henriques
Ravindra Jadeja + Hardik Pandya
Broken Cricket Dream
D’Arcy Short
Manish Pandey
Who would have been your Emerging Player? Surprise Player? Broken Cricket Dream? Let us know below WITH COMMENTS! Also please subscribe!
Where Do They Go From Here?
Earlier I had predicted 2-1 India for the ODIs and 2-1 Australia for the T20Is. The results were reversed, but this India Vs Australia series had closed contests regardless. By no means, did these teams perform at their bests. They have a lot to ponder over, especially heading into the Border-Gavaskar Test series and the World T20 next year.
In limited overs, India have to fix their middle over phase – both in batting style and the bowling combinations. For the test series, India have an Ishant Sharma size hole along with concussion/injury issues for Jadeja and Rohit Sharma.
Australia’s injury woes are at another level. First Stoinis and Warner in the limited overs series. Then, the debutant Green and Will Pucovski with concussions during the warm-up games and now even Steven Smith has a soar back. Here is the complete list:
We will do a World T20 Watch from now till the world cup next year. Here is our predicted T20 XI line up as of now based on this series. Several ifs and buts at this point, but it will get clearer along the journey.
India’s limited overs selections need a rethink. ODIs and T20Is are now separate entities and hence, need different criteria. Gone are the days of the three format players barring a couple from each team.
Each position needs a specific role with a like-for-like understudy. Here is my World T20 XI for India as of now:
