Australia successfully chase New Zealand's 215 in first T20I; Marsh scores swashbuckling 72

Wellington : Australia skipper Mitchell Marsh guided his team to victory over New Zealand in the first T20I of the three-match series at Sky Stadium on Wednesday.

Chasing 216 runs for victory, the visitors won the match on the last ball of the match. The highest score for the side was by Marsh who played an unbeaten knock of 72 runs in 44 balls which was laced with seven sixes and two fours.

Other than Marsh, David Warner (32), Tim David (31*), Travis Head (24), and Josh Inglish (20) played valuable knocks for their side in the victory.

For the hosts, the pick of the bowler was Mitchell Santner who snapped two wickets in his spell of four overs where he conceded 40 runs in his spell. One wicket was grabbed by pacers Adam Milne and Lockie Ferguson in their respective spells.

Kiwis skipper Mitchell Santner won the toss and elected to bowl first.

Batters Finn Allen and Devon Conway came to open the innings. Both the batters attacked the Australian bowlers from the start. Both of them completed their 50-run partnership as Conway slammed the penultimate ball of the fourth over for a boundary which was bowled by right-arm seamer Pat Cummins.

Allen was sent back to the pavilion after scoring 32 runs off 17 balls with the help of three sixes and two fours. He built a partnership of 61 runs along with Conway before getting dismissed to Mitchell Starc in the sixth over.

After Allen's dismissal, young Ravindra came out to support Conway. Both the batters played exceptionally well as they first put on a partnership of fifty and then a century partnership before the second wicket fell in the 16th over.

Conway and Ravindra built an outstanding partnership of 113 runs before the latter was dismissed after scoring 68 runs from just 35 balls. His innings was laced with six sixes and two fours.

Conway was also dismissed after scoring 63 runs in 46 balls with the help of five boundaries and two sixes.

Glenn Phillips and Mark Chapman built an unbeaten 41-run partnership in 23 balls which helped the Blackcaps to post 215 runs for the loss of three wickets after the end of 20 overs.

For the visitors, one wicket each was bagged by Mitchell Starc, Cummins, and Mitchell Marsh in their respective spells.

Brief Score: Australia 216/4 in 20 overs (Mitchell Marsh 72, David Warner 32, Mitchell Santner 2/42) vs New Zealand 215/3 in 20 overs ( Rachin Ravindra 68, Devon Conway 63, Mitchell Marsh 1/21).