Australia completed a 3-0 series whitewash in the Chappell-Hadlee series with a resounding 117-run win over New Zealand in the final One-Day International at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday (December 9).
Chasing 265 for a consolation win, the visitors surrendered meekly yet again after another shoddy display with the bat.
The win was set up by Warner though in the first innings after he stroked a majestic 156 off 128 balls to help his side post 264 on the board. The fact that no other batsman from either side scored a half-century highlighted the importance of Warner’s innings.
Chasing a little over 260, ppener Tom Latham, who came on the back of two failures in the series, got off to decent start in the chase. He first drove Mitchell Starc beautifully through the covers for his first boundary and took on Josh Hazlewood in the very next over to hit the bowler straight down the ground. Another boundary through the covers followed as New Zealand raced to 34 from the first six overs.
That forced Steven Smith to bring Pat Cummins early into the attack and the move worked as Latham was dismissed against the run of play. The left-hander clipped one straight to the fielder stationed at square leg for 28. Martin Guptill, who hit a ton in the first ODI, clipped one behind to collect his first boundary of the innings which was then followed by Kane Williamson placing one to perfection wide of mid on as New Zealand got a move on.
James Faulkner, who was named the man of the match when these two sides met in the World Cup final last year at the same venue, provided his side the vital breakthrough when he trapped Williamson leg-before-wicket. After deliberating for a few seconds with his partner, the New Zealand skipper decided to challenge the decision. But the umpire’s decision stood as the visitors lost their skipper and their only review at the same time. New Zealand suffered another blow when part-timer Travis Head struck with his first delivery. Guptill couldn’t believe his luck and looked gutted when he hit a full-length delivery towards the covers which was snapped by George Bailey, who timed his jump to perfection.
Mitchell Starc then dented the opposition further with an inch-perfect yorker to Henry Nicholls. The ball swung in late and took the batsman’s leg stump. With their hopes dwindling, the last thing they wanted was to lose another wicket to the part-timer. Unfortunately, BJ Watling failed to connect bat and ball and was trapped in front. Smith took an excellent review after the umpire had turned down the appeal earlier.
New Zealand slipped from 74 for 1 to 98 for 5 to lose their way in the chase. Colin de Grandhomme hit a six off Head straight down the ground but miscued a pull to be caught soon after. With Mitchell Santner joining Colin Munro out in the middle, Smith brought back Starc to break the stand, with the bowler getting in another yorker to dismiss Munro. The left-hander perhaps could have looked to play out Starc’s threat with so many overs left but his attacking instincts took over and led to his downfall. Smith finished off proceedings with another stunning catch, this time at the slip cordon.
Earlier in the day, David Warner put out a clinic on how to bat. Having lost Aaron Finch and Steven Smith early in the innings after batting first for the third time in a row, Australia were steadied by a half-century stand from Warner and Bailey. De Grandhomme pegged the hosts back again with two wickets in the same over as Australia crawled to 98 for 4 at the halfway mark.
Travis Head, who struggled to keep the scorecard ticking early on in his innings, redeemed himself with Warner looking steady at the other end. The vice-captain received a reprieve when he pulled Lockie Ferguson but Nicholls failed to grasp the chance after diving at full-length. He made them pay and kept rotating the strike with Head and also hit the odd boundary.
It was one of his most measured innings as he upped the ante after the 35th over. Back-to-back boundaries took him to his seventh century in the format this year. Head then lost his wicket while attempting to clear the ground, which again placed the onus on Warner to bat through the innings. Williamson’s move to bowl Munro in the 43rd over backfired as Warner clobbered him for a couple of sixes. A free hit didn’t help matters as the 30-year-old dispatched it over long on to hit his fourth six.
Warner cleverly placed one over the third man fielder, who was standing inside the circle, to go past 150 for the fourth time in his career. Trent Boult, who caused damage early in the innings bowled a brilliant last over that resulted in Warner getting run out off the last ball for 156. The innings easily proved to the difference between the two sides.
Brief scores:
Australia 264/8 in 50 overs (David Warner 156, Travis Head 37; Trent Boult 3-49) beat
New Zealand 147 (Martin Guptill 34; Mitchell Starc 3-34, James Faulkner 2-26) by 117 runs.
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