New-look Australia dominate Kiwis in T20 opener

Australia hammered New Zealand in the opening match of the T20 tri-series in Sydney yesterday on the back of star turns by Billy Stanlake, Glenn Maxwell, Andrew Tye and Chris Lynn.

New Zealand are the number two ranked Twenty20 team in the world while Australia are a lowly seventh, but the hosts produced one of their best performances in the shortest format for some time to beat the Kiwis by seven wickets.

Australia fielded a new-look line-up missing a host of regular Twenty20 players, including Mitchell Starc, Aaron Finch, Steve Smith and Pat Cummins. In their places were cricketers who were primed for the challenge, having been in hot form in the Big Bash League.

Stanlake made a major impression in his international Twenty20 debut, intimidating a strong New Zealand batting line-up with his searing pace and extreme bounce. The 204-centimetres quick was clocked at 151 kilometres per hour during a sensational three-over spell with the new ball.

With his first ball he comprehensively beat Colin Munro for pace as the fourth-ranked Twenty20 batsman in the world skied the bouncer to short fine leg where debutant wicketkeeper Alex Carey took the catch. Stanlake’s next ball was nigh-on unplayable. Elite T20 opener Martin Guptill was left flummoxed as Stanlake angled the ball in at him only to get it to straighten off the deck and clip the top of off stump.

(Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

By the time Stanlake took his third wicket – another lobbed hook shot from a nasty bouncer – New Zealand were 3/16 and their innings was in tatters. Stanlake has not been released by Cricket Australia to play in tomorrow’s Big Bash League final, unlike Carey, his Adelaide Strikers teammate, and Hobart Hurricanes opener D’Arcy Short, who made his international debut last night.

CA and Queensland have heavily restricted Stanlake’s workload since the 23-year-old made his state debut in 2015. After watching him terrorise New Zealand last night you can understand, even if you don’t agree with the policy, why they are so protective of him. A 204-centimetre cricketer who can bowl at more than 150 kilometres per hour with good accuracy is the rarest of commodities.

Tye, meanwhile, might not have the so-called x-factor that Stanlake possesses, but he is a consistent and crafty white ball bowler. He had struggled to this point of his international Twenty20 career, seemingly lacking in confidence – certainly he ad not looked the same payer for Australia that he had been for Perth in the BBL.

His fine performance in the ODIs against England may well have convinced him he can succeed at the highest level, as Tye yesterday bowled with the confidence and composure we’ve come to expect from him in the BBL. In stark contrast to Stanlake, who earned wickets through hefty force, Tye did it with trickery. His range of change-ups brought him success in the ODIs and did so again yesterday as the Kiwi batsmen struggled to read his variations.

(Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images)

With strong support from left-arm spinner Ashton Agar, who was miserly in taking 1/22 from four overs, Stanlake and Tye helped limit New Zealand to just 9/117 from their 20 overs. That target was revised to 95 from 15 overs due to a rain interruption.

This seemingly straightforward chase suddenly became much more difficult when Australia slumped to 2/10, losing Short and Warner. Instead of looking to steady the innings, Lynn and Maxwell decided to assault the Kiwi bowlers.

Lynn clubbed six fours and a six in his sprightly knock of 44 from 33 balls, but it was Maxwell who stole the limelight with a scintillating innings of 40 from 24 balls, including several gorgeous strokes. His lofted six down the ground from seamer Colin de Grandhomme was the shot of the match, played with traditional technique and pure timing, a stroke of graceful brutality.

Soon after, Maxwell opened up his body and laced a perfect cover drive through a tight infield to score a boundary off Mitchell Santner, the number one ranked Twenty20 bowler in the world. It was, again, a shot which reeked of class.

When Maxwell crunched a Tim Southee delivery straight over the central umpire’s head for four Australia had the victory and the Victorian had reminded the selectors of his great value.