{"id":38480,"date":"2021-02-25T05:37:16","date_gmt":"2021-02-25T06:37:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=38480"},"modified":"2021-02-25T06:56:13","modified_gmt":"2021-02-25T06:56:13","slug":"new-zealand-edge-australia-in-t20-run-fest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=38480","title":{"rendered":"New Zealand edge Australia in T20 run-fest"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Dunedin:\u00a0Veteran batsman Martin Guptill returned to form with a blistering 97 as New Zealand held on for a nail-biting win over Australia in the second Twenty20 international in Dunedin on Thursday.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Guptill’s Black Caps set Australia a challenging target of 220 after losing the toss but were made to sweat as Australia came within four runs of victory.<\/p>\n

Both sides took advantage of University Oval’s short boundaries in a thrilling match that featured 30 sixes and 434 runs at an average of 10.9 an over.<\/p>\n

Marcus Stoinis starred for the Australians with 78 from 37 balls but Guptill’s 97 from 50 laid the foundation for New Zealand’s win.<\/p>\n

Black Caps spinner Mitchell Santner also shone amid the batting fireworks, taking four for 31, while Australian paceman Kane Richardson managed three for 43.<\/p>\n

New Zealand allrounder Jimmy Neesham was another exceptional performer, taking two wickets in the final over when a rampant Australia needed 15 runs for victory.<\/p>\n

Neesham also scored an undefeated 45, including six sixes.<\/p>\n

The result puts New Zealand 2-0 up in the five-match series, on the brink of a shock win over the world’s second-ranked Twenty20 team.<\/p>\n

Guptill’s innings gave him the record for the most sixes in Twenty20 internationals with 132, taking him past India’s Rohit Sharma on 127.<\/p>\n

The 34-year-old clubbed the ball over the boundary eight times, bludgeoning all comers in the Australian attack.<\/p>\n

He fell just short of his third Twenty20 century after being caught trying to hit a Daniel Sams delivery out of the ground.<\/p>\n

Steady Williamson<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Guptill averaged only 17 in the recent series against the West Indies and Pakistan, then managed just 11.5 in the domestic competition before picking up a hamstring injury.<\/p>\n

Pressure on the opener intensified when he made a duck in the first match against Australia on Monday, with calls for uncapped Finn Allen to join the squad.<\/p>\n

But he answered his critics with a return to his big-hitting best, bringing up 50 off 27 balls, with eight boundaries, including four sixes.<\/p>\n

Guptill insisted he had not changed his approach during the game-turning innings.<\/p>\n

“I just went out and tried to do the best I could — fortunately for me it came off,” he said.<\/p>\n

While Guptill provided fireworks at one end, Kane Williamson was steady at the other, scoring 53 off 35 balls.<\/p>\n

Australia made a solid start in reply, despite skipper Aaron Finch continuing to struggle for runs when he was dismissed for 12.<\/p>\n

The tourists were 87 for two at the halfway mark, with rookie batsman Josh Philippe scoring 45 from 32 balls.<\/p>\n

He departed as part of a mid-innings collapse that saw Mitch Marsh and Ashton Agar out for first-ball ducks as Santner claimed three wickets in an over.<\/p>\n

Stoinis and Daniel Sams came together with Australia looking shaky at 113 for six but staged a remarkable fightback, putting on a 92-run partnership that put victory in Australia’s grasp.<\/p>\n

But the heroics from Stoinis and Sams — who scored 41 from 15 balls — were not enough to get Australia over the line.<\/p>\n

Read:\u00a0Conway\u2019s masterclass inspires NZ to 53-run win over Australia in first T20I<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dunedin:\u00a0Veteran batsman Martin Guptill returned to form with a blistering 97 as New Zealand held on for a nail-biting win over Australia in the second […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38480"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=38480"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38480\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38482,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38480\/revisions\/38482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=38480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=38480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=38480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}