The Liebke Ratings: New Zealand vs Australia third ODI

With the series tied at one game apiece, Australia and New Zealand faced off in the final ODI, held as part of the half-time show for Super Bowl 50.

New Zealand won the match by 55 runs, securing them the Chappell-Hadlee trophy.

Here are the ratings from the third ODI.

Final games
Grade: B-

The match was Brendon McCullum’s final one-day international for New Zealand and, as a mark of respect, the Australians formed a guard of honour as he came out to bat.

It was a nice touch, but also a tad unimaginative. Why not get coaches, selectors and support staff all involved in guards of honour too? Fans also, maybe. Gather together enough people to form some kind of elaborate maze with only one correct path that leads to the middle.

Make these retirees earn their final innings.

More cricket:
» Nevill the shock inclusion as Australia announce World T20 squad
» Has Brendon McCullum retired a tad too early?
» McCullum: Withdrawing appeal would have been ‘disrespectful’
» Watch: New Zealand retain Chappell-Hadlee Trophy amid controversy
» New Zealand vs Australia highlights: New Zealand take Chappell-Hadlee trophy
» Scorecard: New Zealand vs Australia third ODI

New Zealand collapses
Grade: B+

Even though it was McCullum’s final game, he batted no differently, Hulking out merrily for 47 off 27 balls, in the process bringing up his 200th six. And possibly also his 600th two, but nobody tends to keep track of those things too closely.

Once the rampaging McCullum was out, the Black Widow lullaby of Australia’s bowlers returned the New Zealand innings to Banner-like normality. Adam Zampa, in particular, bowled cleverly and well, taking 1-45 off his ten overs, proving he’s not just a ball-smashed bloody face.

But the entire attack fared well. Even Scott Boland, who often feels like the Shaun Marsh of this bowling attack but without an Usman Khawaja equivalent for us all to rally behind, took 2-59 off nine as New Zealand lost 5-9 off 15 balls to be all out for 246.

Australia’s middle order
Grade: F

Khawaja led the run chase, not only maintaining his exquisite run of form but improving it even further.

At one point, he realised he didn’t quite have the power and timing to clear the boundary for a six, so instead exploited the skilful hands of Kane Williamson, tricking him into taking a running catch and then carrying it over the boundary.

Clever batting from Khawaja, although it did lead to disappointment later, when wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi took the outside edge off his bat and didn’t also immediately fall over the boundary for six in the process.

Once Khawaja was out, Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell soon followed, leaving Australia in peril at 4-94. People have criticised the Australian team for poor sportsmanship over the years, but they’ve played this entire series without a middle order just to keep things interesting. That’s got to be worth something surely?

Mitchell Marsh’s Foot
Grade: B

As in the second game, Mitchell Marsh stood up to rescue his team, combining with George Bailey and Matthew Wade to move Australia into a position of strength. Full credit to Maxwell, of course, whose failures in this series have given Marsh such strong opportunities to flourish. Great team man is Maxi.

Then Marsh put his foot in it.

By which I mean, he drove the ball into his foot, with the ball then looping back to bowler Matt Henry, whose half-appeal was referred to the third umpire shortly after the on-ground big screen replay convinced the umpires that they should do so.

While the right decision was reached, the process caused much fury among the Australians, with their primary issue presumably being that the big screen should focus more on urging members of the crowd to catch sight of themselves and then wave in the wrong direction and/or kiss other people in their proximity.

Ultimately, Matt Henry was to blame for the whole confusion. If he’d appealed properly, the umpires would have referred the catch straight away. Shout out loud when you take a catch, Matt, okay?

On the positive side for Australia, if Marsh can work on this shot where he kicks the ball after blocking it, many new boundary options open up for him.

Oh, sure, pedants and cricket geeks will say that’s technically ‘hitting the ball twice’, but only if umpires think he’s doing it wilfully. Disguise your kicking, Marsh, and start booting your way to a whole new level of play.

Once Marsh was out, the rest of the Australians soon followed. John ‘The New Finisher’ Hastings. Adam ‘The New New Finisher’ Zampa. And Scott ‘Presumably In The Side For His Batting’ Boland. All out as Australia succumbed for 191.

Steve Smith’s smile
Grade: D

New Zealand’s win meant there was no chance of seeing Steve Smith smile. I’m not even sure Smith still can smile. He seems perpetually angry about everything, even when things go Australia’s way. Sure, it’s a good Virat Kohli impression, but is it really worth it?

Despite his fury, Smith resisted the temptation for his post-match interview to be” “Fine. You guys keep the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy. We’ll keep our five World Cups.” (Drops mic.)

Nor did he unleash a stream of consciousness cuss-a-thon. Instead, he congratulated New Zealand on their victory, while still remaining sufficiently cross to ensure any arguments he made about the Marsh dismissal process were mostly incoherent.

New Zealand spinner Ish Sodhi was also deemed man of the match for his crucial spell of 2-31 off eight overs. Shame, really. On today, of all days, he should probably have just been named the Superbowler.