World Cup win hard to put into words – Langer
AUSTRALIA were crowned T20 World Cup champions for the first time as twin fifties from David Warner and Mitchell Marsh consigned New Zealand to another runners-up finish on the global stage.
The Black Caps were seeking a maiden T20 crown themselves to add to their World Test Championship triumph and were given hope by Kane Williamson’s belligerent 85 from 48 balls following a ponderous start batting first.
New Zealand’s 172 for four was the highest score in a T20 final, but it was not enough as they lost by eight wickets, with Warner’s 53 off 38 deliveries and Marsh’s 77 not out off 50 deliveries getting Australia home.
Unlike the 2016 showpiece, when the West Indies beat England thanks to four consecutive sixes by Carlos Brathwaite in the last over, there was no grandstand finish as Australia overhauled their target with seven balls to spare.
Williamson, troubled by a longstanding elbow injury in recent weeks, benefited from being dropped on 21 to hammer ten fours and three sixes, with Mitchell Starc coming in for heavy punishment.
He finished with none for 60, the worst bowling figures in a T20 World Cup final, but Josh Hazlewood was exemplary as he mixed up his speeds to finish with three for 16 and there was rarely any sense of Australia folding. While Warner finished behind only Babar Azam in the tournament’s run-scoring standings, with 289 at a 57.8 average and 147.44 strike-rate, Australia’s victory owed much to Marsh, who clubbed six fours and four sixes.
He was peculiarly dropped for what was Australia’s only loss of the campaign against England, but proved his worth here, crunching his first three deliveries for boundaries as he consistently put New Zealand on the back foot.
In the reply, Aaron Finch, who has bristled at Australia being “written off”, succumbed for five when a topedge off Trent Boult led to a fantastic sliding catch from Darryl Mitchell, but Marsh ignited Australia’s charge by heaving his first ball for six off Adam Milne then taking the fast bowler for back-to-back fours.
Warner took time to settle, but he upped the tempo as he clubbed legspinner Ish Sodhi out of the attack with two fours and a towering straight six, while the opener went to a 34-ball half-century by taking Jimmy Neesham the distance in his only over.
Boult had his second wicket when Warner had his stumps lit up after missing a slog sweep, ending a 92-run stand with Marsh, who was undeterred as he brought up a 31-ball half-century with a straight six as Sodhi was brought back, conceding three wides in a nine-ball over to help Australia’s cause.
From there Marsh was largely content to defer the big-hitting to Glenn Maxwell (28 not out from 18 balls), whose reverse sweep took the bottom edge before running away for four to see Australia to victory.
Australia head coach Justin Langer described Australia’s victory as “a very special moment for everyone”.
He added: “Everyone that wins a World Cup says it’s hard to process, it’s hard to put it into words, but this is such a special group of people.
“I know every coach and every captain says the same thing, but we’ve got some amazing cricketers.
“We have not had the chance to play with each other for different reasons over the last 12 months, so when we all got back together it was like a reunion.”