2nd T20I: Lockie Ferguson rattles Australia with a four-fer
Lockie Ferguson was the pick of the bowlers for New Zealand in the second T20I against Australia in Auckland. The speedster finished with exceptional figures of 4/12, claiming his second four-wicket haul in T20I cricket. Ferguson bowled in the right channels and created pressure by not giving away runs, which resulted in wickets. Courtesy of his heroics, NZ bowled out Australia for 174.
An exhibition of pace bowling from Ferguson
Ferguson was introduced in the third over, as Australia had a brilliant start. He immediately made an impact by trapping Steve Smith in front of the sticks with his first delivery. He later came back to get rid of Josh Inglis with a well-directed bouncer. Eventually, he returned to bowl the final over and scalped Adam Zampa and Josh Hazlewood in consecutive deliveries.
Second-fastest NZ bowler to complete 50 T20I wickets
Ferguson returned with 1/23 from his four overs in the series opener against Australia. He dismissed Glenn Maxwell and reached the milestone of 50 wickets in 37 T20Is. Notably, he became the second-fastest among NZ bowlers to achieve this feat. Overall, he is the seventh Kiwi bowler to complete this accomplishment in this format. He owns six wickets in three T20Is against Australia.
Decoding his home, away, and neutral venue wickets
With his 4/12, Ferguson has raced to 35 wickets in 19 home T20Is at an excellent average of 13.08. His economy rate of 6.85 is also brilliant. In 14 away (home of opposition) T20Is, Ferguson has scalped only 12 wickets. His economy rate rises to 8.08. Lastly, the speedster has scalped seven wickets from five neutral venue T20Is at an average of 24.
A look at his T20I numbers
Ferguson made his T20I debut for NZ in January 2017 and in recent years has been a regular for the Kiwis, especially in the white-ball setup. The 32-year-old pacer has scalped 54 wickets in 38 T20Is at a brilliant average of 18.83. As mentioned, this was his second four-wicket haul in T20Is. His best figures of 5/21 came against the West Indies.
How has the match progressed?
NZ won the toss and invited Australia to bat first. The visitors started well despite losing Smith early on. Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh added 53 runs as they were 74/1 in six overs. However, they kept losing wickets in the middle overs and never recovered. Pat Cummins (28) made a handy contribution which helped Australia reach 174. Ferguson starred for NZ with 4/12.
