The Super 12 stage of the 20-20 World Cup got underway on Saturday as Australia and New Zealand locked horns with each other at the Sydney Cricket Ground. After being put in to bat first by Australian captain Aaron Finch New Zealand scored a massive 200 for the loss of three wickets.
New Zealand were all over Australia right from the word go as Finn Allen gave a blistering start to his team scoring a quick-fire 42 off 16 balls. His opening partner Devon Conway looked in great form as well who played a scintillating knock of 92 off just 58 balls to take New Zealand to a massive total of 200.
Jimmy Neesham also made a good contribution with his innings of 26 off 13. The Australian bowling looked completely lacklustre in front of the Kiwis as all the bowlers were taken to the cleaners. Josh Hazlewood was the pick of the bowlers who picked up two wickets for 41 runs in his four overs. Adam Zampa added one wicket to his tally.
Australia’s chase got off to a miserable start as they lost David Warner in the second over of the innings. Captain Aaron Finch tried his best to his side in the hunt but was removed in the third over by Mitchell Santner. Tim Southee further made things worse for the hosts as he got rid of in-form Mitchell Marsh in the next over.
Australia were in all sorts of trouble after Glenn Philips’ marvellous catch at deep extra cover to dismiss Marcus Stoinis which left Australia reeling at 50/4 after 8.2 overs. Australian chase was completely derailed by the Kiwi bowlers who kept on picking wickets in quick succession. Glenn Maxwell tried his best to give his team some chance, however, it was too much work left to be done by a single man.
Ish Sodhi removed Maxwell to draw curtains on Australia’s chase. Tailenders came out swinging at everything as victory kept running away from Australia with every ball.
Australia were all out for 111 in just 17.1 overs handing a massive 89-run-victory to New Zealand. Tim Southee and Mitchell Santner were the chief destroyers of Australia who picked up three wickets each. Trent Boult also chipped in with a couple of wickets.
Here’s how Twitter reacted after Australia were blown away by New Zealand in their opening match:
Defeated defending champions by 89 Runs. Well Played NZ. Brilliant start for the tournament!?
Excellent Batting??
Excellent Bowling??
Outstanding Fielding??#AUSvsNZ | #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/71t8NT1PDS— ??????? | 71???? (@Aaliya_Zain5) October 22, 2022
New Zealand thrashed Defending Champions Australia by 89 runs.
This was Australia’s biggest T20 world cup defeat .
What an all round performance from New Zealand, completely dominated in all facets of the game ????????.#T20WorldCup #AUSvsNZ
— Sharat Chandra Bhatt (@imsbhatt0707) October 22, 2022
New Zealand team is the biggest sandbagger in cricket
They are always considered dark horse before tournament, and then ends-up being a title contender#T20WorldCup #T20WC2022 #T20worldcup22 #T20WorldCup2022 #AUSvNZ #AUSvsNZ
— Wahid SK (@wahidskreal) October 22, 2022
Aus ????? #AusvsNZ #T20WorldCup
— INVINCIBLE (@SuraKiller007) October 22, 2022
@BLACKCAPS, planning and execution are synonyms.
NZ made group of Death more interesting.#AusvsNZ#T20WorldCup #CricketTwitter— alekhaNikun (@nikun28) October 22, 2022
New Zealand won by 89 runs! ?
Fantastic cricket by NZ today! ????
This is a big win and they totally smashed Australia! ?? This will give NZ a huge impact on their NRR which will come in play ahead in the tournament. ? #AUSVNZ #AUSVSNZ #NewZealand #Australia #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/BhxmoNIJzb— Shafiya Nawzer (@Shafiya_Nawzer) October 22, 2022
111 all out Mighty Australia
What a display of cricket by the #Blackcaps won by 89 runs?#AUSvsNZ#T20worldcup22 pic.twitter.com/hvL6swLqI6— Uzair Ali ?? (@DrUAG999) October 22, 2022
One fluke World Cup win won't make u a good T20 side @CricketAus ??
You are shitter side just like Windies ?#AUSvsNZ #T20WorldCup— Broken Guy? (@AlwaysMSDian) October 22, 2022
New Zealand beating Australia in Australia,now that's what a proper upset looks like.#AUSvsNZ #T20WorldCup
— Akash Kumar Jha (@Akashkumarjha14) October 22, 2022
Beating newzeland isn't everyone's cup of tea. Defending champions couldn't defend their legacy as they are defeated by such a huge margin!! #AUSvsNZ pic.twitter.com/s8sExrAlqt
— ~shayan! (@Shayan_khattak_) October 22, 2022
New Zealand been plotting this humiliation for Australia since last year's #T20WorldCup final.#AUSvsNZ#T20WorldCup
— Jawwad Hussain Naqvi (@jawwadnaqvi1) October 22, 2022
2 times champion #WestIndies knocked out in group stage, #Namibia beating #SriLanka
& now #NewZealand beat last year's champion #Australia by 89 runs, this #ICCT20WC is already very surprising & interesting.#AUSvsNZ #AUSvNZ #NZvAUS #NZvsAUS #T20WorldCup— Dhiraj (@Dhiraj_d009) October 22, 2022
