- Australia win by 117 runs at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
- David Warner stars in Australian innings with another century
And Australia wins by 117, if you must know. The run chase only reinforces what an innings that was from Warner, who timed his run well, kept his patience, and didn’t try to hit his way out of trouble until it was time to attack at the back end of the afternoon. He held things together, with some laboured but stubborn support from George Bailey and Travis Head especially.
New Zealand looked well in the hunt early, with Tom Latham timing them well and Martin Guptill hanging about. But Latham gave up a soft dismissal, Kane Williamson missed a straight one, and Guptill gave up his wicket in lamentable fashion. With the top three gone, the rest were always likely to struggle.
Related: David Warner rescues Australia with another ton in win over New Zealand
Whooooooaaaaaa Nelly. That is it. But what a way to end it. Cummins returned for a new spell, Boult tried to glide him to third man, thought he’d got enough of it, but Smith at second slip took another blinder. Launched to his right, airborne, one hand, and plucked the catch from absolutely nowhere. Magnifique.
36th over: New Zealand 147-9 (Ferguson 4, Boult 1)
Boult off the mark! With a stylish whip to midwicket. Don’t mind if I do. Ferguson got faulkner away to fine leg as well. Definitely his zone.
35th over: New Zealand 145-9 (Ferguson 3, Boult 0)
Well, they manage to survive Mitchell Starc. He gets 3-34 from his 10 overs. A single glanced by Ferguson is the only score from the last, as Boult blocks out the last three balls with his own usual unique style of defensive play.
@GeoffLemonSport serious thoughts on why khawaja isn't in the odi team? is it just this relatively low stakes series?
34th over: New Zealand 144-9 (Ferguson 2, Boult 0)
To be fair, even the batsmen were struggling to time it off this pitch. Southee bludgeoned a pull shot that barely got past the bowler. Ferguson fended a short ball away as awkwardly as can be, stole a single to square. Then Southee tried to swing one over cover that only went lamely up and down for a catch in the circle. But a bit of style comes along to close the over, as Ferguson uppercuts smoothly down to third man for a single.
Out, out brief candle.
33rd over: New Zealand 141-8 (Southee 3, Ferguson 0)
Smith really wants to get out of here. Starc hits Ferguson on the wristband of the glove, which then flies away to slip where Smith holds the catch. But the batsman’s hand was well off the glove at the time, so he’s spared on the DRS video. I have absolutely no idea how he just survived an over from Starc. Backed away just about every ball, poked hopelessly at most of them. How does the best bowler in the world at hitting the stumps just decide to stop hitting the stumps for an over? Maiden, any rate.
32nd over: New Zealand 141-8 (Southee 3, Ferguson 0)
Ahahahahahaha. Oh, my. Six balls in that Faulkner over, four of them Tim Southee charged. One of them he scored off, the last of the over, which he slogged mightily over midwicket for the princely sum of two runs. A Southee innings: full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
31st over: New Zealand 139-8 (Southee 1)
Well, this over is eventful. Southee nicks a single. Starc is still trying to close this match out. Santner gets a full ball and flicks it beautifully away over midwicket for four. Next ball he backs away to make room, Starc follows him with a shorter bal, and it flies off the outside edge and over the bails for four more. Less beautiful. Next ball, for a second you think he has four more, as the ball flies away through fine third man. Then you realise that it has ricocheted there off the pad, before which is truck him right in front of his stumps, and he’s leg before wicket. Last rites, time for a Southee swing.
30th over: New Zealand 130-7 (Santner 7, Southee 0)
Santner, studious, watches Faulkner’s first three deliveries, then gets one nice and straight and guides it downthrough fine leg for four. Nice bit of timing. Still 135 runs short with the three wickets in hand.
29th over: New Zealand 126-7 (Santner 3, Southee 0)
Starc likes his chances of finishing off Southee, but at first the edge falls short of Wade, and the next three full balls are kept out by an unusually studious New Zealand lower-order batsman.
Nope. Scrap that. No building. Just demolition. It helps when you can call on Mitchell Starc as a captain. Munro flicks the first ball away to midwicket and gets a couple, as it was heading down leg. That must have made him think he was seeing them better than he was, because he has a lavish whoosh across the line at the next ball too. Only problem is the next ball is a far better yorker, on a slightly straighter line, and it demolishes leg stump. Poor shot, good bowling.
28th over: New Zealand 124-6 (Munro 18, Santner 3)
Smashed down the ground for four! Munro has had enough of Head, so he makes room and batters a flighted ball dead straight and high for four. Head drops short for the rest of the over, and the batsmen are able to take three singles through cover and point, shifting back to give themselves room to force the ball away. Sensible stuff. Just need to keep building like this.
27th over: New Zealand 117-6 (Munro 12, Santner 2)
Munro’s timing them alright, he just can’t beat the field. He’s gettinga bit annoyed. Two singles from Hazlewood’s over. What a disappointing slide after that good start. Maybe we could red-card New Zealand’s batsmen after their performances this series. Here’s an entertaining take on the new red-card law from Ben Pobjie, if you have a minute.
26th over: New Zealand 115-6 (Munro 11, Santner 1)
Munro unsure about how to approach Head now. Bashes a single downt he ground. Santner runs one smoothly towards point. Really can’t afford to be giving Travis Head two-run overs though.
25th over: New Zealand 113-6 (Munro 10, Santner 0)
Santner to the crease, a cool customer with the bat as he’s shown in some excellent innings in his young career, but this is a big ask in front of him today. Not impossible, given Munro’s striking power, but this pair are really the last genuine hope that New Zealand have. They would need to add the best part of the next hundred runs.
Head gets his own back, as Hazlewood bangs in short, de Grandhomme bangs away with the pull shot, and Head bangs into the ground as he runs in from deep square leg. The umpires check the replay to make sur the ball didn’t slip through his fingers and touch grass, but they decide the’re happy with the way things look, and the batsman is on his way.
24th over: New Zealand 113-5 (Munro 10, de Grandhomme 11)
That’s one way to approach it! Colin de Grandhomme take a de grand step down the pitch and launches a de grand shot over the de grand sightscreen. He sent that ball all the way de grand home. A few singles and Head’s over goes for 10.
23rd over: New Zealand 103-5 (Munro 8, de Grandhomme 3)
Hazlewood returns, and is immediately into his own form of tidiness. A couple of singles to Munro, one to de Grandhomme. So hard for a batting side to know how to approach a chase from situations like this.
22nd over: New Zealand 100-5 (Munro 6, de Grandhomme 2)
You so often see it with batsmen facing part-time spinners. They want so desperately to get on with things. In this case Watling tried to smack Head away three different times, then nailed a sweep shot for four and felt quite good about it, then tried to repeat the does and got himself out. The large frame of de Grandhomme comes out next and immediately takes a couple of runs to fine leg.
What a day this is becoming for Travis Head. Watling tried to sweep, missed, was hit while kneeling. Umpire LlllllllLlllllong I think drew the conclusion that the ball had pitched outside leg. Smith came straight up to head and asked i f he thought the ball was going straight on. Head said it was, and Smith referred. Wants to close this match out as early as possible. The review had no Hot Spot available, but Snicko showed no edge, and the tracker showed three red lights superimposed over the batsman. If he had a bike, he’d be on it. Would make the walk shorter, too. The MCG is so big.
21st over: New Zealand 94-4 (Munro 6, Watling 4)
Another absurdly tight over from Starc. One leg bye and one single. He’s bowled six overs for 22 runs today.
20th over: New Zealand 92-4 (Munro 6, Watling 3)
That’s more like it, New Zealand. Head bowling, and they work a single from every ball of his over. No muss, no fuss, and if they just did that from ehre on in, they would win quite comfortably.
Match referee teaches Smith and Williamson how to moonwalk. https://t.co/MhB7YnfXJopic.twitter.com/IeBJnOp3G8
19th over: New Zealand 86-4 (Munro 3, Watling 0)
Mixed bag of an over from Starc. A couple of slower balls, another attempt at the yorker, a couple that beat Munro. He utterly creams one drive, but Head at cover makes a miracle save. It ends up being a maiden.
18th over: New Zealand 86-4 (Munro 3, Watling 0)
It’s a great time for Travis Head to be bowling, with the opposition having to defend so hard. Two singles and a leg bye are all that results from the over.
17th over: New Zealand 83-4 (Munro 1)
Everything Sniffer Smith touches is turning to Aussie canary gold (and don’t you forget it). He brings back Mitch Starc, going for the kill.
16th over: New Zealand 83-3 (Nicholls 3, Munro 1)
Out comes Colin Munro, shipping the filthiest handlebar moustache you’ve ever seen. He played some wonderfully inventive innings in the World T20, but hasn’t quite gelled at ODI level. Gets off the mark with a single to cover, then Nicholls cuts two and pushes one. Brilliant bowling change, four from Head’s first over. he’ll bowl plenty more tonight!
That is some prescient shizz. Faulkner has a wicket with his last delivery, but Steve Smith drags him from the attack and asks Travis head to bowl. Commentators question why, Head sends down one ball, Guptill tries to munt it to the cover boundary but ends up lifting the shot and this time the catcher is in just the spot to leap up and reel it in. Shocking, shocking decision by the only remaining senior batsman on the night.
15th over: New Zealand 79-2 (Guptill 34, Nicholls 0)
Williamson gone last ball of Faulkner’s over, and Guptill nearly follows from the first ball of Cummins’. Leans back for the cut shot, can’t keep it down, and Smith only just misses it at gully. Gets a single through square, and Nicholls sees out the rest of the over.
14th over: New Zealand 74-2 (Guptill 29)
The DRS can’t save Williamson - referred as much because of his importance to the team’s effort in this run chase as much as any true belief that it would be overturned. Massive breakthrough for Faulkner, who was man of the match against this team on this ground in the World Cup final of 2015. This ball is pitching well outside off stump, angling in, and Williamson tried to turn it to leg but was beaten for pace, struck high on the paid but the ball was dying off the pitch and would have struck high up his leg stump.
13th over: New Zealand 71-1 (Guptill 27, Williamson 12)
They’re getting enough deliveries to put away too. Williamson glides a single to third, Guptill glances four to fine. Then two more runs in the former method, one more run in the latter. The run rate’s a very healthy five and a half. The partnership is now worth 27.
12th over: New Zealand 63-1 (Guptill 20, Williamson 11)
They’re working the angles, this pair. Faulkner bowls straight and gets picked off for a pair of singles to leg, then gives more width and is picked off through cover for a single by Guptill, then a square-driven boundary by Williamson. The captain follows up with a sharp single after a defensive prod to end the over.
11th over: New Zealand 55-1 (Guptill 18, Williamson 5)
Williamson just waiting for the kinds of delivery that suit his purpose. Gets one that he likes from Cummins, and drives the straighter ball through long-on for four. Then he runs a single to third man, and Guptill thinks that’s such a good idea that he does likewise.
10th over: New Zealand 48-1 (Guptill 17, Williamson 0)
James Faulkner is on early in the day as well, as the Mexican Wave starts up among the now better-attended lower deck. (“We are gonna build a wave, a tremendous wave, you better believe it folks, and we’re gonna make Mexico pay for it.”) Kane Williamson is in the middle, and they’ll need all of his timing today, on this pitch that is just holding up a bit and making that part of the game difficult. KW isn’t on sttike this over though, as Guptill absorbs Faulkner including glancing him fine for four.
9th over: New Zealand 44-1 (Guptill 13)
Well, we saw Australia’s first two wickets fall to catches at square leg, and now Latham has given it up in the same way. Length ball from Cummins, and Latham just didn’t get quite far enough forward to it. Stayed back, worked it square but let it get quite big on him, so it lobbed in the air, Simple take, he played it blind rather than thinking about where his field was and where his gaps might be.
8th over: New Zealand 42-0 (Guptill 12, Latham 27)
Good battle here between Latham and Hazlewood. Guptill gets three runs to start the over, pulling the ball down the ground, after which Latham is moving around the crease, trying to drive square, then to pull, and eventually has to settle for dinking a single to leg.
7th over: New Zealand 38-0 (Guptill 9, Latham 26)
Comeback kid Patrick Cummins(back) gets the ball early for his first go, and settles into a rhythm pretty easily. A single to Latham, a brace and a single to Guptill, all deflected away on the on-side.
The Netherlands cricket team has played 3 matches in 9 months.
I reckon I've got another 20 years in me at this rate.
6th over: New Zealand 34-0 (Guptill 6, Latham 25)
They’re working the opening bowlers well, ticking along at more than five per over. Promising signs for the Kiwis. Latham eases a couple more to third man, flicks the run to midwicket, then Guptill faces Hazlewood for the first time today and pulls hissecond ball for a couple of runs into the expanse at long leg. Plenty of empty acres of grass out there, only two men in the deep for this early Powerplay.
5th over: New Zealand 29-0 (Guptill 4, Latham 22)
Gorgeous shot. Guptill on the back foot, leans back a little, opens the blade and so neatly punches the ball through point. Three runs as it pulls up short of the long, long, long boundary down towards Punt Road. If there’s any place in Melbourne that deserves the appellation long, long, long, it’s goddamn Punt Road.
4th over: New Zealand 19-0 (Guptill 1, Latham 15)
Four! What a shot from Latham on the straight drive. Chris Rogers, a fellow opening batsman, analyses it thus on ABC radio: that because Hazlewood had such a good line across the left-hander, Latham cut down that angle by walking forward out of his crease for that shot. That put the ball in a comfortable zone for him, and he was able to send it neatly down the ground. Then he gets a straighter ball thanks to the correction, and works it through midwicket for a couple, and later draws a wide down leg. He’s started beautifully, has Latham.
3rd over: New Zealand 12-0 (Guptill 1, Latham 9)
Whoops, there goes Starc’s radar again. When he tries to swing balls into the pads, he often sends them merrily down the leg side instead. That’s what happens twice in this over, before he gets one on the correct side of the wicket and Latham drives it cleanly, hard into the ground, and sees it fly through a packed cover field on the bounce for four. Then a flick to midwicket.
2nd over: New Zealand 5-0 (Guptill 1, Latham 4)
Here’s a turn-up - Hazlewood has started out looking even more dangerous than Starc. He’s moving the ball through the air as well, and moving it a bit off the seam, and using the angle across to make the left-handed Latham uncomfortable. All that Tom can do is glide a single from the final ball of a testing early over.
1st over: New Zealand 4-0 (Guptill 1, Latham 3)
Here we go then. Mitchell Starc is immediately tailing the ball into the right-hander. Guptill jams one out for a single, Latham times one beuatifully through midwicket for three.
Phew, that’s better. Not so bad as being told the target is Three Hundred and Infinity Lots. It still won’t be easy - this pitch has looked tricky to time shots on, and everyone struggled to some degree today except Warner. Even he had a fair few lucky moments when his big shots evaded the field, not to mention a couple of edges past the stumps. But if the New Zealand batsmen can keep their heads and build an innings, they should be able to threaten. Or it might be a night for Australia’s bowlers to earn their keep, rather than trundle down foregone-conclusion pies to be swallowed in the outfield.
You’ll be back for the second innings in about half an hour with... me, Geoff Lemon, because I was a bad person in a former life and this is the reprisal the universe has settled on. Not so bad, it could have been eating all the doughnuts in the world.
50th over: Australia 264-8 (Starc 0)
A majestic hand comes to an end from the last ball of the innings. First Warner hits his last couple of runs through point, then he drives a ball straight back to Boult, then the last ball he chips off a leading edge into the on-side, and lost sight of it. Instinct kicked in, and for a second he hesitated, wondering where it had gone, when the last ball of the innings meant he should have just been head down and sprinting. If he’d gone straight away, he would have made it, but the stutter gave Boult time to hare off after the ball, grab it in one hand, then spin around from about short cover and hurl down the non-striker’s stumps. Brilliant, fun, ridiculous stuff, exactly the kind of of thing that one-day cricket should be about, precisely because it doesn’t really matter. David Warner has played a gem for us here today.
That’s alright, he saves his magic for the second innings of a match. Faulkner fails to clear long-off after smashing Boult straight for a two and a four.
49th over: Australia 256-5 (Warner 154, Faulkner 7)
This is great bowling! Southee knows he has long square boundaries and a soft ball, so he sends down a series of cutters dug in short. The batsmen can’t get real purchase on their shots. Five singles, including another Warner top edge that doesn’t carry to the deep. Then from the last ball Warner absolutely sprints back for a second run he has no right to make! Halfway down the pitch he looked gone for all money, but in the end he made it so clearly that the umpire didn’t even go upstairs. What an athlete - in the 49th over, after batting all afternoon. This is bloody ridiculous.
48th over: Australia 249-5 (Warner 150, Faulkner 4)
Boult starts well, keeping Faulkner on strike until the third ball of the over before conceding him a single. But with Warner facing, the bowler loses his line and length. Too short first, and Warner rocks back to uppercut to third man for four. Then one angled too far down leg, and it ricochets off the pad for four leg byes.
You can't stop him, you can only hope to contain him!
150 for Warner! What a shot: https://t.co/YjlfLvMQ8S#AUSvNZhttps://t.co/6LC80QbNgZ
47th over: Australia 240-5 (Warner 146, Faulkner 3)
One thing you can say for Warner: he still has energy at the end of a long day’s batting like this. He’s utterly sprinting back for the second runs, one from a nice pull shot to square, one from a mangled version against a slow-ball bouncer that nearly carries to long-on. Southee’s variation there was good, but his yorker was less so, and with mid-off up, Warner clouted four over the top. He also runs a couple of singles, tries to belt a wide that he can’t reach, and plays a hook so enthusiastic that he falls over and nearly lands on his stumps, from which pose he complains to the umpire that a ball aimed at his head should have been called a wide. Quite the tour de force.
46th over: Australia 229-5 (Warner 137, Faulkner 2)
It changes so quickly. New Zealand pull it back. Warner gets off strike after crossing while the ball was in the air, James Faulkner dobs a couple of runs to midwicket first ball, but Santner then bowls him two dot balls to finish the over. Now it’s New Zealand stopping this from getting away.
Santner floats one down, Wade launches a slog-sweep, and it barely carries two thirds of the way to the boundary. #MCGSoBig
45th over: Australia 226-5 (Warner 136, Wade 14)
Chest-high full toss from Ferguson. Not what you want. Less what you want when Matthew Wade carves a single from it, and brings David Warner on strike for the free hit.
He almost middled it too... https://t.co/YjlfLvMQ8S#AUSvNZhttps://t.co/MDaSdCFD7d
44th over: Australia 214-5 (Warner 128, Wade 11)
Warner wants to get away now. Gets strike from Wade, then carves Boult through cover but can only get two. Then a single through cover. Wade gets a couple of his own to the leg-side, then has an absurd stroke of luck. Inside edges the ball, it spins into his back leg, then back onto his stumps. He turns and dives and tries to knock it away, misses with his bat, and watches helpless as the ball bounces into middle stump. Except... the bails don’t come off. Too heavy? Not enough velocity? Who knows. But he survives. Celebrates by smearing a run over Boult’s head.
No zing #AUSvNZpic.twitter.com/q4QfuKRis7
43rd over: Australia 207-5 (Warner 125, Wade 7)
Not too sure about this - Munro is going to bowl another. You can get away with one over form that sort of bowler, but surely the batsmen will think they have his measure now.
Yeah don't bowl there #AUSvNZhttps://t.co/uWQNvr10Oz
42nd over: Australia 192-5 (Warner 112, Wade 5)
What a shot! Warner gets the length he wants, switches the hands, and reverse-sweeps Santner for four. Then flicks two through the leg side.
41st over: Australia 185-5 (Warner 106, Wade 4)
The next bowler is... Colin Munro? Ok then. He’s bowled nine overs in ODI cricket before in his career. Never taken a wicket. Does pretty well here! You’d barely even call it medium pace, but he manages to avoid giving the batsmen much room, and they only profit by four singles.
40th over: Australia 181-5 (Warner 104, Wade 2)
Not a bad time for Matt Wade to be coming in, he can belt a late attack. Ten overs to launch. Australia needs Warner to go big here as well, though, with Marsh and Head and Bailey already gone. Wade watches out most of Santner’s over, nets a wide, then sweeps a couple from the last ball. Into the last ten... now.
Makes it easy for the bowler! Head comes down the wicket, Santner is bowling left-arm around, the ball angles across Head and then straightens, evades his big swing, and crashes into the off bail.
39th over: Australia 178-4 (Warner 104, Head 37)
Head ducks a Southee bouncer, then finds the field with a couple of big square shots. Eventually gets away with a brace of runs to deep square leg, then a single to third man. Only four from the over, but the partnership now worth 105. The fact that Head has made only 37 of those tells you how difficult he’s finding it.
38th over: Australia 174-4 (Warner 103, Head 34)
What a ridiculous, absurd, stonking year from David Warner. He raises his seventh ODI century of the year by glancing Mitchell Santner through fine leg.
37th over: Australia 166-4 (Warner 97, Head 32)
Gee, Travis Head is struggling. Warner gives him strike from Southee’s first ball, but the junior partner smears across the line and misses one, then slogs one in the air that just bounces in front of mid-off, at which point Head goes for a single that isn’t there, and should have been run out again had the throw not misses. Shambolic stuff. Two runs from five balls that over, but Southee mucks it up with a elg-side offering from the last, and Warner calmly palys the swivel-pull for four.
36th over: Australia 160-4 (Warner 92, Head 31)
Santner is back, he’d only bowled four of his overs before this one, but his reintroduction goes alright as the batsmen collect five runs.
35th over: Australia 155-4 (Warner 88, Head 30)
Colin de Grandhomme finishes up his day’s work with 2-50, not a bad return. The last over goes for seven, including a ludicrous flat-bat smear from Warner that very nearly puts a hole through umpire Nigel Llong at the non-striker’s end.
34th over: Australia 148-4 (Warner 82, Head 29)
Another near run-out, as Head pushed wide of mid-off. They got the first sharp single, but the throw at the stumps went towards midwicket. Head switched around with a big turning circle and wanted to come back for the second, there was some slight hesitation, and had de Grandhomme’s thrown been close to the bails then Watling would have narrowly run Head out. As it is, they made it back for the second, and total five from the Ferguson over.
33rd over: Australia 143-4 (Warner 80, Head 26)
Another tidy over from de Grandhomme, a couple of singles and a two from it. He’s bowled nine of his allotment now.
32nd over: Australia 139-4 (Warner 79, Head 23)
Fortune favours the Dave. At least it does today. Warner gets width, has a big flay at it, and edges it past his off stump for four. Not content with one such ball, Boult offers width to Head as well, and that batsman clatters his cut shot to the fence at point. Better shot, same value.
Classy 50 from Buttler. Plenty wouldn't have picked him because of his lack of red-ball cricket.
Ball is batting like a classic late call up to his club 1st XI who has been dumped down at no.10 and knows he won't get much of a bowl.
31st over: Australia 129-4 (Warner 74, Head 18)
Ah, that one bad ball can make such a difference. De Grandhomme could have bowled a good over for three singles, but he slips one down leg, and Warner flicks it fine for four.
Tony Greig's legacy is every commentator saying, "You're dead right." #ausvnz
30th over: Australia 122-4 (Warner 68, Head 17)
Boult is back, this is a big moment. The key Kiwi has bowled five overs of his ten to this point. Two or three here, a couple late in the innings? Warner calmly pushes the single first ball into the covers, then it’s back to Head’s struggle, missing the pull shot, bashing the cut to the field, half ducking and half pulling against a ball that skews away for a run to fine leg. Warner, cool as ever, waits back and taps a run to point from his first ball back on strike.
29th over: Australia 119-4 (Warner 66, Head 16)
Head still isn’t screwed on right. Goes hard at a mistimed shot and can’t score, then darts a single next ball that would have had him run out had the throw hit. Warner gives him the strike back, and Head glides a couple to third man. Five in total from the de Grandhomme over.
28th over: Australia 114-4 (Warner 64, Head 13)
Fast bowlers concede runs. It’s just kinda one of those things. Sometimes they get wickets as well, but they cost. Ferguson bowls yet another wide, then drops short and is pounded away by Head for four. Great timing. Takes the single, which gives Warner the chance to play his own pull shot, although this one is saved just inside the rope for three. Nine off the over.
27th over: Australia 105-4 (Warner 61, Head 8)
Interesting field for Head. They’ve got two fairly short covers and a point, along with a deep cover and a mid-off. Presumably it’ll be a line outside off, encourage him to play uppishly. After receiving strike from Warner, Head’s cut shot is wonderfully cut off by Guptill at point, or it would have been four. The sweeper cuts off another, keeping him to a single, then Warner chips a ball just over the head of Nicholls at short cover and profits by two.
26th over: Australia 101-4 (Warner 58, Head 7)
Ferguson is back. Warner makes use of his pace by running it to third man, Head tries to do the same with an uppercut but is nearly caught a third man. Warner gets a fuller one and pounds it through cover for four!That was a shot. Then the sensible, score-building single to follow, flicked square. If he could back up with another ton today... He’s raised the team hundred, too, by the way.
25th over: Australia 94-4 (Warner 52, Head 6)
Better over from the Australians against de Grandhomme. Head finds a couple singles via the glide and the straight push, Warner sees a tasty one whose length he likes and flogs it over mid-on. It bounces wide of the fieldsman in the deep, then scoots under him to reach the rope. Warner follows up with another single, eight from the over.
24th over: Australia 86-4 (Warner 46, Head 4)
Warner is still ticking over, a strike rate around 80, and keeping control of his part of the innings. Head glides a single to third man after receiving strike, which looks more composed than his previous efforts. Warner pulls a couple of runs from Southee’s short ball, four from the over.
23rd over: Australia 82-4 (Warner 43, Head 3)
De Grandhomme continuing the restraining order: another wide, three singles.
22nd over: Australia 78-4 (Warner 41, Head 2)
Southee back, and a cracker of an over. Some good ground fielding stops Head scoring early, then the batsman starts losing the body part that he’s named for, and swings away wildly for the last couple of balls. Makes no contact. Second maiden for Southee today, just 13 from his five overs.
21st over: Australia 78-4 (Warner 41, Head 2)
Different batsmen, same result. Warner gets a single first ball against de Grandhomme, then watches Head face four dots before finally finding a run to keep the strike. De ja vu. One big swipe that missed was enough to make Head nervous, and he backed off. Two lefties at the crease now.
I can certainly see why you'd never dream of changing this batting line-up under any circumstances for the reigning ODI player of the year.
20th over: Australia 76-4 (Warner 40, Head 1)
Williamson takes advantage of a possible quiet period to sneak some overs from... Williamson? Yep, a bit of off-spin. The Aussies get three singles from it.
19th over: Australia 73-4 (Warner 38, Head 0)
Three runs from the over, two wickets. You’ll take that. The young man Travis Head is at the crease, after an excellent 57 in Canberra, but he’ll need to do a much different job in this match, coming in before the 20th over and needing to bat through.
Mitch Marsh has been dismissed for a duck in four of his last eight innings in all formats. #AusvNZ
Two in three balls, as Marsh chops a ball down into the pitch, it bounces up behind him, and thunks into the top of middle stump. Watling leaps into the air after watching the ball on, and suddenly Australia are back in trouble.
Oh man #AUSvNZpic.twitter.com/EtnboWcxBV
And the pressure tells! Bailey just never looked comfortable today, couldn’t find any timing, and it’s been a struggle of an innings. Not a huge problem with a low strike rate when you’re rebuilding, but when you get out without cashing in later it never looks good on the scorecard. A third catch in the ring on the on-side, as Bailey tried to work the medium-pacer across the line and chipped up the catch to midwicket.
18th over: Australia 70-2 (Warner 35, Bailey 23)
Another tidy over from Santner, three runs from it. Pressure builds...
17th over: Australia 68-2 (Warner 33, Bailey 22)
One of the many Colins, this one named de Grandhomme, comes on for his first over, and is milked like a Jersey cow. A brace and a single to Warner, a wide to Bailey, then Colin 1 keeps sliding leg-side-ish, bowling at the hip, and is worked away for three more singles. Seven from the over in total.
16th over: Australia 61-2 (Warner 29, Bailey 21)
Bailey is struggling here, could have chipped a return catch had Santner been quicker off the mark. Warner gets a single to follow up that run, then Bailey faces four more dots, two of them inside edges. I say he’s struggling, but they’ve raised a 50 partnership from 58 balls, so the pair is at least doing the rebuilding that Australia needed. Sometimes all you can do is battle through the bad times, as Mitch Marsh did early in his innings in Canberra before destroying the bowling by the end.
15th over: Australia 59-2 (Warner 28, Bailey 20)
Another over of heat. Warner gets away from Ferguson first ball with a single, but Bailey is pinned down until the last of the over. One ball especially is sliced away off the edge but lands safely. There’s also another high bouncer - they could be exerting even more pressure if they stopped conceding extras, the Australian bowlers.
14th over: Australia 56-2 (Warner 27, Bailey 19)
Six! Warner celebrates his let-off immediately, first ball of Santner’s over lifted over long-off to drop just behind the boundary rope. Three singles follow from the rest of the over.
I'd say about 10,000 here so far #AUSvNZpic.twitter.com/zWPvEGz4wh
13th over: Australia 47-2 (Warner 19, Bailey 18)
Everyone’s getting carried away with Ferguson’s pace. He can’t help bowling it, they can’t help trying to smash it. Bailey carves a square drive for a couple, then pulls a couple. He gets the single next ball, then Warner is dropped. Short ball, lots of pace, hooked at it, big top edge towards backward square. Nicholls could have been three catches from three, as he put in a fantastic sprint from deep midwicket as the ball hung in the air. But it just dripped a little too steeply on him, and I’m not sure if got fingertips to it on the dive or if it landed an inch in front. Either way, he can’t hold it, and a huge moment in the match tilts Australia’s way. Warner gets a run.
12th over: Australia 41-2 (Warner 18, Bailey 13)
Mitchell Santner on now, left-arm spin. He’s been very tidy in some monster totals so far: 1-47 in Canberra, 0-40 in Sydney. Only three singles from his first over.
Smith's ODI ducks now trending longer. His first 3 flatlined at 2 balls each, today's was 7 balls. Definitely showing more patience. #AusvNZ
11th over: Australia 38-2 (Warner 17, Bailey 11)
Ferguson! He’s bowling absolute heat. Was that entire over delivered at more than 150 kmh? Most of it certainly was. An eventful over, too, with Warner very nearly chopping on again as he did in Sydney. Warner has to spin around and bat it away from his stumps after it banged hard into the ground. They fly past the batsman thereafter, including one wide bouncer called for the height. Then the last ball ruins the perfect pace, Ferguson dishing up a slower ball that Warner is wise to and belts dead stright past mid-off for four.
10th over: Australia 31-2 (Warner 12, Bailey 10)
Thwock. Risk-reward from Warner lands on reward this time. He gets a decent ball from Boult, not a half-volley, on a good length, but Warner is able to lean back and lift it over wide mid-off, the ball taking off with a pogo spring towards the rope. Gets off strike with a single to leg, then Bailey gets a not-so-good shorter ball and cracks the pull shot for four.
9th over: Australia 22-2 (Warner 7, Bailey 6)
Lachie Ferguson on for his first run - the Calder Cannons half-forward flanker, as he was described during Game 1. Bailey is getting frustrated: after an initial no-ball from Ferguson, Bailey slogs with all he’s got at the free hit, and just toes it to the fieldsman at midwicket. Then he cracks a pull shot straight to square leg, then he’s beaten through to Watling behind the stumps. No runs off the bat that over, and the score is a mini-Richie.
George Bailey's new batting stance is not so much "out of the box", more "forgot my box". #ausvnzpic.twitter.com/DMaYeWe2f2
8th over: Australia 21-2 (Warner 7, Bailey 6)
Boult being pretty tidy as well, although the line of his bouncers still needs some work. He kept bowling the slower ones down leg in Canberra, and today he’s going high and wide down leg with the quicker one. Two singles are teh other scores from the over, Bailey keeping strike from the last ball.
7th over: Australia 18-2 (Warner 6, Bailey 5)
New Zealand bowling beautifully this morning. Southee just working away outside Bailey’s off stump, has him playing and missing, has him on the wander, but the need to balance caution wins out and Bailey sees out a maiden.
6th over: Australia 18-2 (Warner 6, Bailey 5)
Bailey trying to get the measure of Boult after Warner gets off strike with a leg bye. George watches a few balls go by, blocks some towards cover. The last of the over is short enough to be cut for three.
I will not be told what to eat by a pyramid
5th over: Australia 14-2 (Warner 6, Bailey 2)
Some good ground fielding as well from the Kiwis, as Warner first pulls Southee behind square, then carves him on the cut shot toward point, but is foiled on both occasions. Warner finally gets a single from the fifth ball, and Butt-First Bailey shows him how easily it’s done by flicking his own first delivery through midwicket for two.
4th over: Australia 11-2 (Warner 5)
No 55 average for Smith today! He’s only made one duck in that period since being recalled to the ODI team, but he adds another today. Boult does the business again, the off-side stacked with catchers, and the over bombing away at an off-stump line, but he jags the last ball in to target the body, and Smith shifts across the stumps to try to flick it away fine. He doesn’t get onto it properly, pops it away in the air, and Nicholls again is at square leg to intercept.
3rd over: Australia 10-1 (Warner 5, Smith 0)
Southee follows up with another peach of an over. Rips the first ball past the outside edge as it jags, which unsettles Warner, then the batsman is flailing at the next two balls outside the off stump. Misses. Warner finally gets the last ball away with that slapping cover drive that he lays so well, but it wasn’t a bad ball, and could just as easily have got him out.
2nd over: Australia 6-1 (Warner 1, Smith 0)
Wicket maiden for Boult with his first over. Some start. Smith in the middle early, but he averages 55.88 since being recalled to the team in October 2014.
Great bowling - Trent Boult comes left-arm over, sits one just outside Finch’s off stump, then swings it in. Kane Williamson has left cover open for Finch, so the batsman aims a booming drive in that direction. The tailing ball takes the inside half of the bat and squirts to square leg, where Nicholls holds the simple catch.
“Finch’s place in this team further in peril,” says Gerard Whateley on ABC radio, but I’m not too sure that’s fair. He’s one of those players who becomes unfashionable about one innings after he’s dominated a game. Was fantastic in Sri Lanka mid-year.
1st over: Australia 6-0 (Warner 1, Finch 3)
Not a great start from Southee, sends down a couple of wides as he tries to find his range. Warner bunts a sprint-single into the leg-side, then Finch flicks three through square leg. Lots of space out there, #MCGsobig, and there’ll be runs aplenty if the batsmen use their placement.
Great to see @theagesport journo @Jesse_Hogan back at the MCG ahead of today's third ODI! #AUSvNZpic.twitter.com/s8rXrBApRC
Normally I would put a tweet at the end of a post, but this deserves a post of one’s own.
18% of New Zealand’s team are called Colin. #AUSvNZ
Bad news for New Zealand again - another run chase, another requirement to constrain this in-form batting line-up. Bad news for Glenn Maxwell, who has been left out again, meaning he’s missed Victoria’s Shield game for the privilege of carrying drinks and sub-fielding for a week. Bad news for Jimmy Neesham, who is out with the arm he injured in the Canberra game. Henry Nicholls replaces him in the top order. Lachie Ferguson replaces Matt Henry in a seam-bowling swap. Australia is unchanged. These are the news.
Australia
Warner
Finch
Smith*
Bailey
Marsh
Head
Wade†
Faulkner
Starc
Cummins
Hazlewood
Cry me a river. Find me a rainbow. Send me an email. That number again is geoff.lemon@theguardian.com, or the tweetbox is @GeoffLemonSport.
Hello fronds! Fern you for joining me, plant yourselves in a chair. No, please don’t leave, let stalk about it. I may have soiled my reputation, but your absence will be a gap that I can’t chlorophyll.
The sun is out in Melbourne, incidentally, after a very glum and cold grey morning that resembled a slab of wet slate. Not promising, and I’m not going to lie, Yarra Park was not exactly packed with eager punters flocking to catch the third game of this wildly popular Chappell-Hadlee series. But a few are making their way into the ground now, and the day looks more promising.
Geoff will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s an interesting take on the whole Glenn Maxwell saga from Sam Perry:
Related: Glenn Maxwell public criticism: disproportionate or good leadership? | Sam Perry
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