Mitchell Marsh smokes his third T20I fifty as Australian captain
What's the story
Skipper Mitchell Marsh scored a brilliant half-century as Australia defeated New Zealand by six wickets in the opening T20I in Wellington.
It was indeed a captain's knock from Marsh as the Aussies were chasing 216 for victory.
While several Aussie batters threw away their starts, Marsh returned unbeaten, having scored 72 off 44 balls (2 fours, 7 sixes).
Here are his stats.
Marsh
A stunning effort from Marsh
Chasing 216, Marsh arrived with the scorecard reading 29/1.
He went after the bowlers from the outset as the scoring rate remained healthy.
The Aussie skipper was involved in crucial partnerships with David Warner (32), Glenn Maxwell (25), and Josh Inglis (20).
Alongside Tim David (31*), he added 44 runs in the last three overs as Australia crossed the line on the final delivery.
Stats
Here are his stats
Marsh now owns three T20I fifties as captain.
He has raced to 320 runs while leading the team at 80 (SR: 175.82).
Overall, he has raced to 1,406 T20I runs, averaging 34.29. His strike rate is 135.58.
This was his ninth T20I fifty. Against NZ, he now owns 256 runs across nine T20Is, averaging 42.66 (50s: 2).
Summary
How did the game pan out?
While Devon Conway scored 63 runs, Rachin Ravindra made 68. Opener Finn Allen also contributed with a fiery 32.
Glenn Phillips (19*) and Mark Chapman (18*) chipped in with unbeaten cameos as NZ posted 215/3 in their allotted 20 overs.
In reply, Marsh led Australia's chase. David's brilliant 31*-run cameo helped the Aussies cross the line on the final delivery.
Information
Third-highest successful chase for Australia
As per ESPNcricinfo, Australia scripted their third-highest successful chase in T20Is. Earlier, they chased down 223 versus India last year and 244 against none other than NZ in 2018. They crossed the 200-run mark in a successful chase for the fifth time in T20Is.