Billy Stanlake announced himself on the international stage before Australia cruised to a seven-wicket victory against New Zealand in a rain-affected opener to the Twenty20 tri-series.
» Click here to read the full match report
Final score
New Zealand 9/117
Australia 3/96 (win by DLS method)
Australia kick off their T20 Tri-series with a match against New Zealand. Join The Roar for live scores from the match at the SCG on Saturday night, starting from 7:30pm AEDT.
Let’s start with the thing that has so many fans scratching their heads – what on earth is this fixture doing awkwardly wedged in between the BBL semi-finals, which finished last night, and the final, which is played tomorrow night?
Yes, there’s a lot of cricket that needs to be packed into the summer schedule, but surely there was a day of the year – pretty much any other day of the year – where this match could have been played.
Luckily, it hasn’t made too much of a significant impact on the Big Bash final, with news coming through today that D’Arcy Short, Travis Head and Alex Carey will all be released to play in the big game.
They might all feel the impact of traveling around the country in quick fashion, but it’s good to know that the best of the best in the BBL will be available on its biggest night.
As for this match itself, well it’s safe to say that Australia’s batting lineup looks like it’s got a lot of teeth and how well they do could define the match.
Having two massive BBL starts in Short and Chris Lynn in the mix alongside the likes of David Warner, Head, Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis is a batting line up built to score runs, plenty of them, and quickly too.
New Zealand being the world’s No.1 ranked T20 team will have plenty to say about that though, and Australia do face a significant challenge her if they’re going to turn around the poor form that plagued them during the recent ODI series.
Join The Roar for live scores from the match between Australia and New Zealand at the SCG on Saturday night, starting from 7:30pm AEDT.