Australia whitewashed New Zealand in the T20 series, winning by 27 runs under the rain law in the match transitioned from T20 to T10. With this, they also outperformed in the preparation for the T20 World Cup.
Winning the series with just one match in hand, Australia had a spectacular victory in the final match against the Kiwis. Hindered by rain, the travelers’ innings ended at 10.4 overs, losing 4 wickets and accumulating 118 runs. New Zealand could only manage to score 98 runs, losing 3 wickets in 10 overs in the second innings.
Although Australia lost wickets at regular intervals while batting first, they managed to score runs at a brisk pace. Despite opener Travis Head scoring 33 runs off 30 balls, the real impetus came from Matthew Short, who scored 27 runs off just 11 balls, and Glenn Maxwell, who blasted 20 runs off 9 balls. Towards the end, Josh Inglis (14* off 8 balls) and Tim David (8* off 3 balls) played crucial but short innings.
In response, no one could stand tall for New Zealand except Glenn Phillips, who remained unbeaten with 40 runs off 24 balls. However, none of the other batsmen could contribute significantly. Mark Chapman scored the second-highest with 17* runs off 15 balls, but he consumed 15 deliveries for his runs. Their inability to keep up with the required run rate led to their defeat.
