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.
After Stanlake’s electrifying 3-15 helped keep New Zealand to 9-117 at the SCG, Chris Lynn (44) and Glenn Maxwell (40no) powered Australia to a revised target of 95 with 3.3 overs of the allotted 15 to spare.
Following an hour-long rain delay in the innings break, the pair came to the wicket when David Warner (6) and D’Arcy Short (4) fell early but rarely looked troubled until Lynn was caught on the boundary eight runs shy of the target.
Renowned for being two of the best T20 batsmen in the country, Lynn’s 33-ball knock included six fours and one six, while Maxwell also whacked five fours and one six.
But the star of the show was Stanlake, after he’d earlier ripped through the Black Caps’ top order with wickets with his first two balls and another in the second over of his opening spell.
In just his fourth international match, 23-year-old Stanlake nudged 150km/h throughout his four overs as he dismissed Colin Munro and Tom Bruce when both were on three.
His inswinging delivery to remove Martin Guptill was his best, beating the Kiwi star all ends up and taking the top of off stump.
“That is the most nervous that I have felt in quite a while,” Stanlake told the Nine Network.
“The first over seemed to settle me down a bit so that was nice.”
Such was the early dominance of Stanlake and fellow opening quick Kane Richardson (0-28), they sent down 18 dot balls in the first four overs and held New Zealand to 3-29 in the six-over powerplay.
They also helped to limit Black Caps captain Kane Williamson to the slowest innings of his 47-match international T20 career, before Andrew Tye had him caught off a leading edge at cover for eight off 20 balls.
Tye finished with 4-23, as he returned to clean up the tail and kept world No.2-ranked New Zealand to less than a run a ball in an innings for the first time since 2012.
Only Colin de Grandhomme provided any real counterattack for New Zealand, with his unbeaten 38 from 24 balls featuring three massive sixes square off Tye and Adam Zampa.
twodogs
Guest
Don't be sorry Simon, you have every right to be angry. The ticket prices definitely keep me away. Especially since I can watch it on tv and select one of my own premium beers at a couple of bucks each! Not 9 odd bucks (?) for a rancid half spilt plastic cup of tripe. That's why I like shield games - relatively peaceful and free. I therefore dont mind paying 13 bucks for a beer and pie. CA, listen to the punters - charge maybe 15% above BBL prices. Less is more - less charges - more punters equal higher takings and more profit. ****** ivory tower fools.
qwetzen
Guest
I'm excited by this Oz T20 XI! If we can get rid of Warner & Zampa, whose recent LO form is demanding it, then the odds are very good that there'll be no NSW players in the XI! How CA could find a captain and how the Nein comms would survive this catastrophe would be exciting to watch...
Mitch
Guest
Very solid team i would like to see Boyce or Ahmed or Swepson instead of Zampa maybey Nair as well for batting depth but his bowling is being reviewed. Another bowler who can bat instead of Richardson. Short Warner Lynn Maxwell Stoinis Carey Agar Nair/Swepson/Boyce Coulter Nile/Starc Tye Stanlake
Simon
Guest
anyway sorry out my whinge. Stanlake was outstanding and if our batting lineup find some form of consistency like we did tonight I think we can be T20 world champs
Simon
Guest
I wasn’t so pissed off at the low crowd given how they sold the tickets. We tried getting some all week and all they had was single seats in gold or the two top tiers left ($109 or $149 plus a booking fee). About 20 of my mates pulled out because of these prices, and fair enough too. I got to the ground thinking they must have jacked the cost up because of so few seats left, so to see our whole section and the 2nd tiers pretty much empty was so disappointed. CA have to be held accountable for this selfish greedy behavior, it shouldn’t cost 4.5 times what it costs to watch the BBL if you’re gonna get half the atmosphere And make no mistake, if tickets tonight were at BBL or even slightly higher prices the place would have been full to the brim
blanco
Guest
Finally selectors pick the best team and the result speaks for itself. This Bily Stanlake kid is something special. He is very tall, accurate and fast, very rarely will you find a bowler who is tall and fast. Morkel comes close but obviously Stanlake is faster.
Basil
Guest
Good Ol' New Zealand. Always there to make us feel better. Cheers bro's...
anon
Roar Pro
Maxi showing his worth. What an innings. Commentators couldn’t stop talking up Lynn (he played a great innings) while Maxi scored at a higher strike rate. All they could talk about was Maxwell’s unorthodox shots, questioning his shot selection — while Lynn looked to belt every ball out of the park. Not that there’s something wrong with that — it’s how you play T20 in 2018. Warner still living off his T20 reputation he built in 2008. The guy looks completely out of sorts. Timing was all over the place. Happy to see Maxi stick it to his critics. Team looked a lot more harmonious tonight with these group of guys.
MANISH K RAO
Guest
Good performance by Aussies. Kiwis seamed to be jittery and outplayed. By the way Aus under19 team was playing WC final today. Surprised not to see even a mention anywhere here!