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Introduction

Hello cricket fans! Welcome to the second match of the live updates of the men’s T20I showdown for the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy. Australia are ahead the series 1-0 after beating the hosts by six wickets in the first match on Wednesday.

That victory was anchored by the powerful batting of captain Mitchell Marsh, who thundered 85 runs off 43 balls with 9 boundaries and five sixes at a scoring rate of 197.67.

The Black Caps were hammered with the ball but will take solace from their showing with the bat. Despite losing three early wickets in the initial overs, they bounced back to reach what appeared a competitive 181 runs, led by Tim Robinson’s brilliant maiden century.

Weather Conditions

A quick weather forecast…

Unfortunately, it’s a rainy day at Mount Maunganui and the light rain, which stopped an earlier, has just resumed. Although the weather radar shows brighter skies coming in, for now the toss and announcement of the two XIs for today will be delayed.

Nonetheless, I’m assured Bay Oval has a excellent drainage that disposes of liquids efficiently, so fingers crossed we get some cricket action soon.

Squad Updates

Here are today’s teams…

BLACKCAPS
Tim Seifert (wicketkeeper), Devon Conway, 3 Tim Robinson, Mark Chapman, 5 Daryl Mitchell, Michael Bracewell (captain), Jimmy Neesham, Matt Henry, Ben Sears, Ish Sodhi, 11 Jacob Duffy

A changed lineup for the New Zealand with allrounder Jimmy Neesham added to the team, paceman Ben Sears included, and 32-year-old leg-break specialist Ish Sodhi also included.

AUSTRALIAN SIDE
Travis Head, 2 Mitchell Marsh (capt), 3 Matt Short, 4 Tim David, 5 Alex Carey (wk), 6 Marcus Stoinis, 7 Mitch Owen, Xavier Bartlett, 9 Sean Abbott, Adam Zampa, 11 Josh Hazlewood

One change for Australia with fast-bowler Sean Abbott taking the place of Ben Dwarshuis.

Toss Result

Coin toss: New Zealand have won the toss and will bowl first

Michael Bracewell called right and chooses to field at the Australian team. The Australian skipper probably would have chosen similarly so an early win for the hosts. However, the Black Caps will need to start a lot better than they did in game one where the visitors galloped to 67 in the first five overs before the Kiwis picked up their first wicket.

Match Conditions

Positive updates, everyone: the covers are off at Bay Oval and we have official word that today’s fixture will proceed as an 18-over contest.

Key Performers

Tim Robinson’s first T20I century in the opening match was a spectacular effort in a losing cause. The New Zealand were six for three in the second over, with the Australian paceman removing Tim Seifert in the opening over and Ben Dwarshuis taking two wickets in consecutive deliveries to dismiss two top-order batsmen back to the sheds before the young batsman swaggered out. In his 13th T20 international, the tousle-haired youngster scored an not out 106 off 66 balls.

He hit 6 boundaries and 5 sixes along the way and ended his blitzkrieg in fine fashion, with a boundary and a maximum from the final two balls!

Injury Updates

There’s a few umbrellas packing up at the Bay Oval so we expect a toss and the confirmed teams for you soon. However, there are a heap of players missing across the board through injury, red-ball focus, parental duties or freak accidents.

Most unusually, both teams lost their star allrounders on the eve of the series in bizarre training mishaps. On Tuesday, Black Caps gun Rachin Ravindra collided with an advertising hoarding during a fielding drill and suffered a deep laceration to his face that needed stitching and ruled him out for the entire series.

That very day, Aussie veteran Glenn Maxwell had one of his meaty wrists broken while bowling in the nets thanks to hard-hitting colleague Mitchell Owen. It means Maxwell is a absent for this T20 series and may be in question for the domestic season too.

Looking Back

While the teams complete their final warm-ups at Bay Oval, we might take a look back at the first match. The two sides came in with strong records, with Australia on a tear of 15 wins from their previous 17 T20 games and the Kiwis having won nine of their last 11 in the current year.

Related Tournament News

Of course today’s T20I is also a tasty entree for the Women’s ODI World Cup being played in the subcontinent. Australia are aiming to win a seventh World Cup, and become the first women’s team to claim consecutive titles since 1988. They started their campaign with a victory over New Zealand and tonight face Sri Lanka.

Indigenous star Ashleigh Gardner notched the opening hundred of the competition, saving her team from 5-128 with a composed 115 off 83 balls that helped her team to reach 326 runs in 49.3 overs. The Australians went on to beat the New Zealand by 89 runs.