Australia held on to their throne of the world’s No.1 ranked ODI team by a fraction of a point ahead of South Africa, but the Chappell-Hadlee trophy is now sailing back to New Zealand.Lets have a look at the performances :
Boult’s Six-for – The left-arm quick is a trump card for Kane Williamson and played dynamically, leading the defence, claiming 6-33 – his second five-wicket haul against Australia. On a nice batting wicket, the total could have been considered under-par but boult was excellent till the end when he cleaned up Hazelwood and Cummins in the 47th over. It was career-best figures for the 27-year-old.
Aaron Finch (56 from 64) wasn’t in the side a few weeks ago but he was skipper today and he made his way to a fine half-century with a typical combination of power and timing.
Travis Head (53 from 72) posted a fifth ODI half-century, stroking the ball elegantly through the gaps and to the rope early in his innings before seemingly setting himself to bat deep into the run chase.
Taylor’s Ton – Ross Taylor reached the three-figure mark for the first time in ODIs since August 2015. Taylor’s 107 was not the smoothest of the centuries but its the runs what matter at the end of the day.Taylor equalled Proteas champion AB de Villiers with 14 hundreds from number four – the most in ODI history.
Stoinis to the rescue-Marcus Stoinis made a majestic 146 no in Auckland and was again found trying to rescue the aussies from a not so good position.
He made 42 from 48 deliveries which later proved not enough but his composure in the 2 matches this series tells that he is here to stay.
In the end, the tailenders were left with too much to do. Michell Starc and Pat Cummins did land a couple of sixes each after Stoinis’s departure but in the end Cummins was caught at slips (yes! a slip in the 47th over).
