Dubai: Australia clinched their first ever ICC T20 World Cup beating New Zealand by 8 wickets in the final in Dubai on Sunday.
Mitchell Marsh and David Warner(53) starred for the Aussies on the big night chasing down a tricky 173 in overs after Kane Williamson(85) had powered New Zealand to 172/4 in 20 overs.
Despite got hit early losing their skipper Aaron Finch to seamer Trent Boult in the third over,Aussies rode on Warner and Marsh who joined hand together just like the last game and quickly took the game to the Kiwi bowlers staring the counter attack and stitched a game changing mammoth 102 run stand before Warner got bowled by Boult. However, the day belonged to Marsh who remained unbeaten till end alongside Glenn Maxwell(28*) to finish it off with the later smashing winning runs with a switch-hit.
Earlier,New Zealand lost last match’s hero Daryl Mitchell early on, Kans Williamson kept the scoreboard ticking steady alongside Martin Guptill(28) stitching a crucial 48 run stand to rebuild the although the later struggled throughout and got dismissed. Williamson after getting dropped on 17 by Josh Hazlewood didn’t put a single feet wrong in his innings and showed his class all the way to bring a superb half-century. Such was his menace that even a bowler like Mitchell Starc got smashed by the Kiwi for 22 in the 16th over which did the job to boost the innings up close its way to the 160 run mark.
Hazlewood who dropped Williamson earlier repaid his mistake by grabbing the scalp of the Blackcaps skipper ensuring late leakage of runs at the death while also topping the Aussie bowling charts with his 3/16. Though Jimmy Neesham(13*) tried to replicate his last match’s prowess, the duo of Cummins and Hazlewood bowled tight at the stumps to reduce the total a bit.
Brief Scores: Australia 173/2 in 18.5 overs (Mitchell Marsh77* ,David Warner 53, Trent Boult 2/18) beat New Zealand 172/ 4 in 20 overs(Kane Williamson 85, Martin Guptill 28; Josh Hazlewood 3/16) by 8 wickets.
