MAYANK KUMAR ∙ 25 Feb 2021
NZ vs AUS | 2nd T20: Guptill, Neesham help Blackcaps overpower Stoinis-Sams onslaught
New Zealand held onto their nerves in the wake of brutal counterattacking innings from Marcus Stoinis and Daniel Sams and registered a win by the barest of margin in the second T20 of the series in Dunedin.
For the hosts, the heroes were Martin Guptill and James Neesham who provided blitz with the bat in the first innings while the latter came back to leave his mark on the day with the ball and got the better of heroes in the opposition camps in the form of Stoinis and Sams just when the game was hanging on the edge.
The Blackcaps now lead the five-match series by 2-0 and the tourists have their task cut out to win all of the last three games of the series to win the trophy back home.
Chasing a mammoth target of 220 runs, Australia were off to a better start compared to the last game as both Aron Finch and Matthew Wade put on a decent partnership of 34 runs from three and a half overs.
Wade was going berserk from the one end, while Finch’s slump with the bat continued and he could not get going once again. Wade was severe on anything short bowled at him, but the struggle of Finch at the other end forced him to keep going for boundaries almost every ball and he perished in the process.
On the other end, Finch’s misery was cut short by Ish Sodhi whose good moments in the game were about to get over towards the end. Josh Phillipe did not waste the opportunity to impress one and all after missing out in the first game, and started timing shots in the same manner he has been doing in the Big Bash League that paved the way for his entry into the Australia T20 team. He hit three sixes in his 32-ball-45, and two out of them were picturesque.
Australia must have been disappointed by another low score from Glenn Maxwell and his absence from the middle order in terms of runs derailed the tourists’ effort of chasing down the target of 220 runs.
While Ish Sodhi struggled with the onslaught from the Australians, Mitchell Santner owned the stage. He broke the back of the Australian batting order with big wickets of Phillipe, Ashton Agar and Mitchell Marsh in a single over and put a big question mark on the tourists’ spirit in Dunedin.
When Marsh walked off the field at the end of the 13th over, Australia were in disarray, needing 107 runs from the last 42 balls and the story seemed to be over for them. However, Stoinis and Sams had other ideas and they started taking the game into the Blackcaps’ camp.
They got stuck into Sodhi and Southee and plundered them for 20 runs and 25 runs in the 15th and 16th overs respectively. Stoinis was brutal in his power game and pulled everything that was pitched away from his arc over the leg side fence.
Sams did not hold back and match Stoinis shots by shots and the duo started hunting the Kiwis down over by over and the effect of the onslaught was telling on the hosts’ bowling line up.
The duo was relentless and did not allow any bowler to get away unscathed from their hammerings and they cut down the improbable task fo 107 runs from 42 balls to 15 runs off the last six balls. The task was not impossible especially the momentum Stoinis and Sams were riding on, but the day belonged to James Neesham who could do no wrong today and he dismissed Sams on a ranked full toss to start the 20th over. He went on to account for Stoinis as well, and Blackcaps could manage to finish the fiery resistance from the Australian to go 2-0 up.
Earlier in the day, Finch won the toss and asked the hosts to bat first on a pitch that promised some assistance to seamers with the new ball.
Martin Guptill was under pressure coming into this game, but showed no signs of vulnerability and looked in good touch at the start of the innings against his nemesis in the last game-- Daniel Sams. When Jhye Richardson was called up by Finch to challenge Guptill’s footwork in the third over, he was greeted with signature shots as Guptill planted his foot down the pitch of the ball to hit him over the top of his head for a monstrous six.
Guptill was up and running but his partner at the other Tim Seiffert could not get going and Australia tasted early success. Finch found Guptill comfortable against pace and brought on Ashton Agar to take the pace off the ball, but Guptill was in a complete unforgiving mood today and his first over yielded 15 runs. Agar’s spinning partner--Adam Zampa was welcomed in a similar fashion by Guptill and two colossal sixes into the car parking outside the stadium to reach fifty in 27 balls were the signs of Guptill’s comeback in top form.
Looking at Guptill going for glory at the other end, Williamson too decided to shift gears and they started to despatch Australian bowlers over the park to reach the 100-mark bu the end of the 11th over.
Guptill did not let the pressure of nearing a century and kept coming at the bowlers, but ultimately succumbed in the process. His departure from the field did not provide any respite to the tourists as James Neesham took off from the same point where he had left.
Both Richardsons-- Jhye and Kane tried their best to bring Australia back in the game on the back of three big wickets of Devon Conway, Glenn Phillips and Mitchell Santner in quick successions, but Australia’s hopes of owning the control of the game were put to rest by Neesham.
Australia fought well to challenge New Zealand in pursuit of big runs, but Finch will be realistic to recognise the lack of discipline shown by his bowlers while the top order batsmen including himself have found it tough to get going at top of the order. They need to make amends in the next game otherwise the series will be gone before it finishes and the path of preparation towards the T20 World Cup scheduled to take place in India later this year will hit a major roadblock.