Australia’s T20 cricketers are refusing to blame their fortnight-long isolation for a first-up humbling by New Zealand.
In game one of a five-match T20 series, Aaron Finch’s side were skittled in Christchurch, 53 runs short of New Zealand’s 5-184.
The loss came just 24 hours after the end of their quarantine under military supervision at the city’s Chateau on the Park hotel.
Players were allowed gym and training sessions during their hotel stay but ate meals alone and were not allowed to socialise or stretch their legs outside of prescribed windows.
Finch said the unusual preparation was not an excuse for the loss.
“The 14 days was pretty good to be honest. They looked after us brilliantly,” he said.
“The defence force, the government, they’ve all been fantastic.
“We didn’t play our best tonight. New Zealand just played well.”
Finch endured another disappointment with the bat, driving firmly to Devon Conway at point in the first over for just one run.
Further failures will put pressure on the 34-year-old, who had a torrid Big Bash League campaign, as he looks to hold his position ahead of October’s World Cup in India.
Australia’s top scorer was Mitch Marsh, who came in at four and made a composed 45.
The 29-year-old said, if anything, the isolation allowed for rest and recovery.
“I felt really great coming out of quarantine. We’re very lucky that we were able to train and prepare for today’s match,” he said.
“We all felt fantastic. Ultimately we were just outplayed by New Zealand.”
The win was New Zealand’s first T20 defeat of Australia on home soil.
Man-of-the-march Conway’s 99 not out was his fourth huge T20 knock without losing his wicket, after finishing his domestic season with Wellington with 69, 91 and then 93 in the Super Smash final.
The Black Caps’ veteran duo of Tim Southee (2-10) and Trent Boult (2-22) found swing to wreck Australia’s top order.
Newly minted Indian Premier League millionaire Kyle Jamieson’s (1-32) best is yet to come, while Ish Sodhi’s four middle-order wickets for just 28 runs show his danger.
Marsh said if the ball keeps swinging in the land of the long white cloud, Australia will find it tough.
“They probably swung the ball for seven or eight overs which in T20 is pretty rare,” he said.
“(Southee and Boult) are world-class swing bowlers … they’ve done it for the last 10 years those two so we have to combat that in the next couple of games.
“We’ll have a couple of days to chill and take in some New Zealand fresh air, which is fantastic, and be up and about for the next game.”
Game two of the series is at Dunedin’s University of Otago Oval on Thursday afternoon.
Bing Lee
Guest
Paragraphs 3, 6, 8 and 9 are non-sequiturs. They are unlinked to either the prior or following paragraphs. Paragraph 2 makes no sense at all. Just repost what you are trying to say in English.
Bing Lee
Guest
"including yours"? What are you on about? My opinion? I've made no opinion on best practice re: keeping covid out. I'm not qualified. Or my scientists? Mine are the same ones as yours. The dedicated health officials of Australia and New Zealand making decisions based on science and fact and not the rambles of unqualified people like yourself. Thats the problem with the internet. People think they have the divine right to share an opinion on anything they know nothing about.
Insult_2_Injury
Roar Rookie
Including yours?
bowledover
Roar Rookie
I think NZ cricket has put a premium on being smart and innovative about its cricket and cricketers at least at the international level, and this is paying dividends for them. When I say smart i mean thought about the game they are playing, who are the right options, introducing some out of the box thinking - consider the last T20 world cup in India, they played really smart cricket. I think AUS Cricket has languished a bit in terms of putting some real thought into how it is approaching the games it is playing and its cricketers. Partly that is driven by a notion of "Australia as a behemoth" in world cricket, but it has not had a side that dominates (like it did in the late 90s/00s) in a while... it is living a little on past glories. It shows in the game plans and tactics it uses. These t20s are strange - I reckon we want to win em, but we arent going to unless we make smart choices. Some things spring to mind: Stoinis... the guy either opens or he doesnt play. McDermott - give the guy a go at 3/4. Philippe - as others and Ronan (I think ) suggested try him lower down the order, as middle order option to help with that momentum issue in the middle overs and to take some pressure of Maxxie. Finch needs to be prepared to try the middle order also. He has to be flexible for the team.
Bing Lee
Guest
and all of them uninformed and unqualified to provide it... trust the scientists.
Insult_2_Injury
Roar Rookie
Harsh........on an opinion site! Gotta reckon there's 7bn people with an opinion on covid after 12 months.
Buk
Roar Rookie
Not all doom and gloom. Conway snuck up under the radar, but sure they will now pay very close attention to him, and ways of restricting him. And ways to combat Boult and Southee. The start was good, had NZ reeling. Ironically at the mid-way point both teams were pretty much even at about 90-odd for 4. One good innings from one player can turn a game, and may be Australia's turn next up.
Republican
Guest
......or is it more to do with a comprehension deficit or straight out convenient denial on your part? That's ok. Nice diversionary tactic though Bing. I sense you've used it the non - sequitur ploy before.
Mr Wong
Guest
Touring aussie camps under military guard in the sub continent are still allowed to eat and drink together. But that's no excuse - they've all been in bubbles before so they know what they are in for. I've stayed at Chateau by the park, they are at least lucky to have nice large rooms and in some cases, windows that can be opened and a balcony. A bit better than the canned air boxes people get when they quarantine in Australia. I'm sure they enjoyed their doubletree cookie. Lol.
Bing Lee
Guest
There's about 6 non-sequiturs in there...
Bing Lee
Guest
Thanks for that comment, Tanmoy. Now if you could please furnish us with your medical credentials - namely around virology and epidemiology, we can take you a bit more seriously.
Reddy
Roar Rookie
Maxwell looked to be not having a good night, looked grumpy through out. Just an observation from a kiwi cricket fan.lol
Republican
Guest
NZ population between 5 & 6 mill. Australia population in excess of 25mill. Cricket status in NZ not that high comparatively speaking while the status of Cricket in Australia - well some talk it up as our national sport although I would beg to differ. NZ Cricket not expedient of our domestic leagues (then not for the lack of trying), which makes for a nice change. Despite this, NZ manage to match it with us in all forms of the game and are ranked higher than we are in one or two of these if I recollect. Conversely an analogy should be made with Union, which is a religion in NZ and a less than niche code here. That said, NZ dominate us to the point of humiliation in a code they invest an obsessive amount of national identity and jingoism in, as we should in Cricket theoretically speaking. And lets don't forget League; This is a niche code in NZ yet they are always more than competitive and consistently superior than Australia, despite Leagues apparent high status here. NZ also supply the NRL with between 30 & 40% of its elite talent and growing. In short, no excuses Australia, we are simply mediocre because NZ are nothing exceptional in sporting global terms, yet they always rise to the occasion v Australia. Are we simply a disparate Federation, mores than ever before? I believe so which means we are more invested tribally in our states rather than in a nationhood. Conversely, NZ are a far more cohesively nationalistic collective, because they can be.
Tanmoy K.
Guest
A 14 days quarantine is too harsh for a team which has come from a relatively safe place as far as Covid-19 is concerned.
Paul
Roar Guru
Stoinis MUST come in early if he's going to play at all. As you say, he's a really bad fit any lower than that.
Bobbo7
Guest
The difference was Conway and the bowling. And this is not the BBL. The Aussie batsmen seemed to think you can play dinky cross bat hero shots to a world class attack.
Insult_2_Injury
Roar Rookie
Stoinis is a square peg in a round hole at 6, Maxwell is too high at 5.
Paul
Roar Guru
I thought theirs and our early bowling overs were both pretty good Dave. What we lacked was someone to bat around, which is where Conway showed what he can do. He & Glenn Phillips steadied things while the only bloke to bat half way decently was MM. Very disappointing efforts from both Maxwell & Stoinis, given the circumstances.
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
I thought the bowlers were as much a difference as Conway, Paul. Asked far more questions than our guys did, though obviously the top order batting was very ordinary.
Paul
Roar Guru
In this form of the game, it takes very little for one side to dominate another. Australia's bowlers started well but our batsmen did not and once a team get's on top, there aren't many overs to turn the game around. At the end of the day, there was probably one player who was the obvious difference between the two teams. Conway had a terrific night and the wraps Kiwis have had on him seem justified, certainly in this form of the game