They came, they saw and Guptill conquered
The roar of the crowd rang in the Black Caps’ ears again and they responded under Wellington’s Sunday afternoon sun.
After two hefty losses to Australia at an empty Sky Stadium, the turnstiles clicked at high noon under alert level 1 and captain Kane Williamson’s men repaid the faithful with a trans-Tasman cricket series victory.
Having restricted Australia to 142-8, New Zealand cruised to victory with 27 balls to spare for a seven-wicket win in game five, and the Twenty20 series trophy by 3-2.
Opener Martin Guptill was at the forefront, a powerhouse knock of 71 off 46 balls a world away from his worrying run drought entering this series as he departed to a standing ovation.
Despite appearing to be troubled by a niggly hamstring, Guptill swung hard and long, seized control and was particularly savage on Australia’s legspinner Adam Zampa.
His second over went for 23 as Guptill sent one onto the stadium roof, then muscled two more into the crowd to rattle up 50 off 33 balls.
He had different company, too, with Devon Conway elevated for a struggling Tim Seifert. The left-right duo were dynamic, Conway hitting 36 off 28 in a decisive opening stand of 106, and with his wicketkeeping prowess is a viable plan B for Seifert in the top XI.
A Williamson first-baller to speedster Riley Meredith, lbw, was the only hiccup, as Glenn Phillips joined his Auckland teammate and swatted some boundaries to ice it. Phillips’ winning six off Zampa nearly brought the house down.
Spin was in for the Black Caps. While the turn wasn’t as pronounced as game four, on a sluggish surface it was a hint of what we’ll see at the Twenty20 World Cup in India in October. Ish Sodhi relished it as he led the way again.
The legspinner removed Marcus Stoinis and Ashton Agar in successive deliveries , to end with 3-24 and superb series numbers of 13 wickets at 12, and economy rate of 8.26.