Australia keep their nerve to win the tie by CricketArchive Staff Reporter

---

Scorecard:	Australia v New Zealand
Player:	BB McCullum, DL Vettori, DJ Hussey
Event:	New Zealand in Australia 2008/09

---

DateLine: 15th February 2009

 

Australia survived McCullum onslaught to sneak through in the only T20 international by one run. Chasing 151 to win, New Zealand were kept down to 149 by a spirited bowling attack. Bracken bowled beautifully to keep the pressure on New Zealand from the beginning and even though McCullum tore into the bowling attack the the Kiwis in the end fell just short of glory.

 

Australia advanced to 7 for 150 at the conclusion of their 20 overs - a competitive, if not overwhelming, total in the conditions. Vettori proved troublesome for the hosts, bowling a tidy, flat line that yielded the superb figures of 1 for 23, and included the wicket of Australia's top scorer David Hussey (41 off 39). Vettori was ably supported by the debutant Butler, who finished with 1 for 30, and Iain O'Brien, who conceded 22 runs from his opening two overs but fought back for figures of 2 for 34. The Australians threatened to post a large total when Warner and Brad Haddin (15 off 10) skipped away to a brisk start, but Tim Southee's dismissal of the captain dampened the pace of the innings. The other batsmen were kept quiet with a full and straight line as none of the batsmen were able to break free. Just when Hussey and Voges looked like opening up after the loss of three wickets, Voges fell against the run of play and again the idea changed to rebuilding. White tried to hit out but he too failed miserably and finally Australia had to settle for 150. The hosts did not clear the boundary rope until the 15th over and managed only one more before the innings was out.

 

New Zealand began the innings on the wrong foot when they lost Guptill and Fulton early. McCullum was joined at the crease by Broom and the duo added a quickfire 61 for the third wicket in 50 balls but after the fall of Broom, Elliot joined McCullum at the wicket. But the pair could not accelerate as needed and the pressure increased as the overs sped by. Elliot could not find the pressure reliving boundary and as the New Zealand innings reached the final phase McCullum began to open up his shoulders. In the seventeenth over of the innings bowled by Hopes McCullum decided that enough was enough and smashed 20 runs form the over as the required run rate which at that point crept upto 10 runs an over came down drastically. But in the next over, McCullum fell to a brilliant piece of fielding from Voges in the deep and with it the hopes of a Kiwi victory fizzed out.