Kiwi opening batsman Martin Gultill became the new world record holder of runs scored in T20 internationals at Eden Park on Friday night.
In a night where records dropped like Morteined flies, Guptill’s century took him to 2188 career runs from 71 visits, passing his former skipper Brendon McCullum’s 2140 from 70.
India’s Virat Kohli looms as Guptill’s biggest threat in the future, with 1956 runs from just 51, while Australia’s leading T20 international run-getter is David Warner with 1767 from 69.
All the other records that fell on Friday night weren’t the result of brilliant batting on a belter of an Eden Park pitch, but puerile, pathetic and incompetent bowling. It was an embarrassment.
Of the 11 so-called bowlers used, nine were hammered beyond recognition, with Australian left-arm spinner Ashton Agar and Kiwi leggie Ish Sodhi the only ones to just avoid double-digit economy rates.
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Economy? Crap bowling would be far more accurate.
The Australian attack started the rot with constant half-trackers begging to be smashed all over the park, plus a mixture of full tosses, and little to praise with line or length.
With runs flowing at will, Marcus Stoinis bowled one bouncer that landed in his half and was so far above the batsman and keeper Alex Carey’s heads on its way to the ropes that it wasn’t even in the frame from the side-on camera.
Stoinis smiled. Was that from embarrassment or amusement?
There was nothing funny in the delivery as the Kiwis raced to their highest ever T20 international score of 6/243.
(AP Photo/Tim Ireland)
But Stoinis wasn’t the only culprit:
- D’Arcy Short went for 19 off his only over;
- Andrew Tye went for 64 off his four – economy rate 16;
- Stoinis was carted for 50 off four – 12.50;
- Billy Stanlake for 43 off his four – 10.75;
- Kane Richardson 40 off four – 10.00; and
- Agar 24 off three – 8.50.
With the Kiwi batsmen very grateful for being gifted a very early Christmas present:
- Colin Munro smacked 76 off 33 for a strike rate 230.30; and
- Guptill’s 105 off 54 gave him a strike rate of 194.44.
If the Kiwis hadn’t committed batting suicide late in the dig, they would have scored at least 270 and wouldn’t have been beaten.
The large patriotic Eden Park crowd of 33,692 were constantly on their feet applauding the Kiwi bash-fest, but they were very silent when the Kiwi attack bowled the same crap against the Australians.
The worst offender was left-arm paceman Ben Wheeler, playing in his sixth T20 international. His seventh will be in the distant future.
He ‘bowled’ 3.1 overs, costing 64 – an ‘economy rate’ 20.21. He was so bad he bowled two full-toss above waist no-balls to be officially banned from bowling again in the game.
Colin de Grandhomme wasn’t much better, bowling 3.5 overs for 56 for an economy rate of 14.60. Tim Southee and Trent Boult are world-class pacemen, but even they went for 12 and 10.95 an over. They were bowling too much crap. At least leggie Sodhi bowled four overs for 35 with an economy rate of 8.75.
The feast was welcomed by Aaron Finch’s 36 not out off 14 for a strike rate of 257.14. Skipper David Warner wasn’t far behind, with 59 off 24 for 245.83, and Glenn Maxwell hit 31 off 14 for 221.42.
(AAP Image/Tracey Nearmy)
That left opener D’Arcy Short, who hit 76 off 44 for a strike rate of 172.72, to be named man of the match, being dismissed in the 17th over.
But Short had a bigger claim to fame than that – the 27-year-old newcomer hasn’t been in a losing Australian T20 side in four starts.
That stat is far more meaningful than the fact Australia broke the world record for the largest run chase on the way to victory, and the 32 sixes in the game only proved how pathetic both attacks were in equalling the world record.
That left Martin Guptill’s world record as meaningful and praise-worthy, as was 22-year-old student Mitchell Grimstone’s, who leaned over the railing in the stand to catch a six left-handed to earn himself a $50,000 cheque from the Tui Brewery.
We’ll drink to that.
Matt H
Roar Guru
three extra overs is a lot to make up (from memory Australia gave away one extra over). That's a 10% difference in balls to be scored from.
Matt H
Roar Guru
Is this supposed to be an opinion piece or a match report?
JamesH
Roar Guru
Yeah, well done to Short but Guptill deserved it. Even Agar was a better bet. Going for 8 an over in this game is like going for 5 an over in most other matches. He's been amazing in this series.
JamesH
Roar Guru
Usually there is something in the pitch, just not for this game. It was a highway.
Lancey5times
Roar Rookie
It is surely a waste of time asking this as there is zero chance David will reply but here goes, David, in a scenario where the Aussies bowled at a level 'you' would expect them to, what score would they have been able to restrict the Kiwis to?
Swampy
Guest
It was 55m straight which means it was 35m behind the wicket. That is not really suitable for cricket
John Erichsen
Roar Guru
I am way past expecting, or even hoping, that David would pick up any points made by others. That simply is not his MO. I am glad he glad up the same size for both teams point though. Many of us were under the impression that New Zealand Cricket had the grandstands moved back, during the interval between innings, so that the boundaries were longer for the Australian innings.
Sylvester
Guest
Eden Park is a small ground, but before this game there'd only been three scores over 200 in T20i - and one of those was this year as well (which incidentally was expertly defended by Pakistan). David is right, this was more about ill disciplined bowling.
ThevoiceofReason
Guest
And here are Guptill and Finch warning about the danger of trying too hard at Eden Park to clear the boundary. Something that has cost Finch personally a bunch of times in NZ. https://www.cricket.com.au/news/martin-guptill-aaron-finch-eden-park-auckland-australia-new-zealand-odi-t20-tri-series/2018-02-15 Guptil hits the ball straight as far as anyone in Cricket, Munro's MO is to flay the ball from ball one. The Aussies had to chase 240 plus, they would have gone for it regardless of the dimensions. Eden Park is traditionally one of the lower scoring ground sin NZ, because usually there's something in the pitch for bowlers and the ball typically swings. NZ bowlers especially were awful, 20 wides and 2 no balls is another three- four overs bowled and that's without adding the extra runs. That had little to do with the dimensions of the ground. Ben Wheeler's confidence wasn't shot from the ground, only one of Shorts boundaries was a 6, it was that Short could get edges to fly across the turf as if thy were middled from a bat of old. I do agree though that something has to be done about dimensions, not so much ground size, but bat size. Of Short's first 7 boundaries 5 were edges (only one a six) and would have been boundaries on most grounds unless you put a fielder directly behind the keeper. Bats are too large and too dense, particularly their edges. That, along with pitches that are roads, are destroying the game in every form of cricket.
ThevoiceofReason
Guest
Guptill hit the three biggest sixes of the evening and I bet another couple would have been in the top ten. Apart from one six which was a miss hit they all went way back. There is a reason he has three totals over 150 (two of them overseas where the pitches are easier to score runs) in odi cricket and that's because when he's in he hits a long ball. It was the aussie batsmen who were just clearing the rope apart from a couple of pulls by warner and a single slog by short.
Mitcher
Guest
“puerile, pathetic and incompetent: The only genuinely accurate statement in this article. Nobody could accuse you of lacking self awareness David.
Dean
Guest
Additionally, it's not just a case of which shots would have cleared a 75m boundary. Would the batsmen have even attempted the same shot if a fielder was standing on a 75m boundary versus a 55m one.
Osmond
Guest
Ben Wheeler is a better bowler than David Lord is a writer. Using “Mortein” as a verb is the literary equivalent of a waist high full toss. The overuse of words like “crap” and “dig” is another. Oh, and those one word sentences! Off!
Kangajets
Guest
Eden Park was the same size for both teams David You have totally missed johns point with that answer. He is questioning the credibility of cricket being played at a venue as farcical as mini golf .
Paul
Roar Guru
no argument David but there was still a certain degree of skill on display a) to make the NZ score then b) to chase it down. I agree with your premise there was some very ordinary bowling but it wasn't a complete farce - but it wasn't far away either.
Swampy
Guest
David - can you back that comment up with data? I would like to know how many sixes would have still cleared the rope if they were on a different ground. And with the shortest boundaries straight then surely part of the reason the bowling was rubbish was tactical - to avoid pitching up and getting hit down the ground? You could almost block a six straight. It couldnt have been much more than 55m straight.
Ouch
Guest
Disagree David. Guptil would have been out early on most Oz grounds. Some of his 6's wouldn't have made the boundary.
El Loco
Roar Rookie
We've always had a roast at Christmas but I suppose a picnic could be nice too.
DaveJ
Guest
Ridiculous comment, half the sixes would have been swallowed inside the boundary on other grounds.
DaveJ
Guest
Exactly, he hit nothing but the edge in that over.