Hot Guptill leads New Zealand to T20 series win against Australia
A century opening stand by Martin Guptill and Devon Conway saw New Zealand clinch their Twenty20 series against Australia on Wellington on Sunday after the tourists faltered in the face of an experimental spin attack.
Set a aim for of 143 for victory in the 5th and final match, New Zealand claimed triumph by seven wickets and took the series 3-2 with an emphatic 27 balls to spare.
After being comprehensively outplayed in games three and four when batting second, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson knew he had to be innovative to win the series after he lost the toss and was told to bowl first of all.
He put an focus on spin with his slow bowlers sending down 12 overs, the most for New Zealand in a Twenty20 match, plus they took four of the eight wickets.
"We just wished to released a much-improved efficiency from the last two and it had been great that people could show some signals of improvement," Williamson stated.
"Clearly, the slower bowlers in that wicket were a bit trickier."
Of the spin brigade, Ish Sodhi completed with 3-24 off his four overs, Hong Kong-born Mark Chapman, bowling for the very first time for New Zealand, took 1-9 off two and Mitchell Santner conceded only 21 operates from his four.
Guptill, who had been out of form entering the series, silenced his critics with a masterful 71, including seven fours and four sixes, even while Conway contributed 36 with the pair putting on 106 for the initially wicket.
New Zealand stumbled slightly when Kane Williamson went initial ball but a Guptill single denied Riley Meredith the hat-trick.
Glenn Phillips blasted New Zealand home with five fours and several sixes to end up being unbeaten on 34.
Although a Covid-19 outbreak in Auckland forced the previous three matches to be played on a single wicket in Wellington in the space of five days, Australian captain Aaron Finch said it was his side's batting rather than a worn pitch that cost the tourists.
"We probably weren't aggressive enough with the bat, myself led that at the very top," he said.
"We didnt get more than enough runs, we placed losing wickets at frequent intervals. I thought (the pitch) enjoyed pretty much and Mitch Santner bowled beautifully with the brand new ball and didn't allow us to escape to a flyer."
Matthew Wade leading scored for the tourists with 44 while Finch contributed 36 and Marcus Stoinis made 24.
