Australia and New Zealand kicked off the first of their three ODI matches today at Eden Park in Auckland and after Australia won the toss and chose to field, New Zealand put up a reasonable total of 286 for Australia to chase. After putting up an outstanding show with the ball, picking up three wickets, Marcus Stoinis looked set to be leading his team to victory, but they fell short by six runs after Josh Hazlewood got run out.
Martin Guptill (61, 73b, 8x4) and Tom Latham (7, 9b, 1x4) got the New Zealand innings underway and despite Latham getting caught by Handscomb in the second over, Guptill stayed on and got New Zealand off to the perfect start. After Latham's dismissal, New Zealand lost a few wickets in quick succession as Kane Williamson (24, 34b, 2x4), Ross Taylor (16, 24b, 1x4) and Colin Munro (2, 6b) struggled to get going with the bat.
However, despite that struggle, New Zealand had enough batting firepower to put up a reasonable total as Neil Broom (73, 75b, 4x4, 3x6) and James Neesham (48, 45b, 6x4) got the Kiwis back on track and towards the end Trent Boult (16, 7b, 2x4, 1x6) showed his abilities with the bat as New Zealand put up a decent total after a slight batting collapse.
Marcus Stoinis was the star with the ball for Australia as he picked up three wickets and all important ones too, including Martin Guptill who was looking dangerous as he settled in well. He also got the dangerous Colin Munro out, before the big hitter could find his feet at the crease.
Pat Cummins got two wickets to his name getting Santner and Southee out. Along with them, Starc, Hazlewood, Faulkner, and Head picked up a wicket each as Australia restricted New Zealand to a total of 286/9 in 50 overs.
Australia have some really heavy hitting batsmen and they were expected to put up a tough fight for New Zealand right from the start, but the Aussies had a huge problem with their batsmen as the first six batsmen struggled a lot to get runs on the board.
Aaron Finch (4, 7b) and Travis Head (5, 15b, 1x4) got the Australian innings underway, but the duo would get out before the fourth over. Shaun Marsh (16, 21b, 3x4) and Glenn Maxwell (20, 24b, 3x4) were at least able to score in double figures, but they too would not last long and at this point it looked like New Zealand had the match in the bag.
However, Marcus Stoinis (146, 117b, 9x4, 11x6) had other ideas. He single handedly got Australia back into the match. After Stoinis came in, James Faulkner (25, 49b, 1x4) and Pat Cummins (36, 28b, 5x4, 1x6) also contributed well towards the end and after Stoinis' outstanding performance, Australia were destined to win the match. They needed six runs with three overs remaining and a wicket in hand.
However, Josh Hazlewood got run out, ending Australia's hope of getting a win this match.
Mitchell Santner picked up three wickets for New Zealand, while Boult and Ferguson picked up two wickets each. Southee and Munro picked up a wicket each and if it was not for Hazlewood getting run out, Australia would have probably won this match as Marcus Stoinis was still at the crease.
Score
New Zealand: 286/9 in 50 overs
Australia: 280 all out in 47 overs
Bowling
Australia: Starc 10-0-59-1, Hazlewood 1-0-48-1, Cummins 9-0-67-2, Faulkner 6-0-29-1, Stoinis 10-049-3, Head 5-021-1
New Zealand: Southee 10-0-63-1, Boult 9-0-58-2, Ferguson 1-0-44-2, Santner 10-1-44-3, Neesham 5-049-0, Munro 3-0-20-1
Fall of wickets
New Zealand: 1-13 Latham (2.5 overs), 2-87 Williamson (13.6 overs), 3-128 Taylor (22.3 overs), 4-130 Guptill (23.4 overs), 5-134 Munro (25.1 overs), 6-210 Neesham (37.6 overs), 7-246 Santner (45.2 overs), 8-251 Southee (45.5 overs), 9-269 Broom (48.4 overs)
Australia: 1-9 Finch (3.1 overs), 2-10 Head (3.5 overs), 3-18 Handscomb (6.1 overs), 4-48 Marsh (11.2 overs), 5-54 Maxwell (12.6 overs), 6-67 Heazlett (18.2 overs), 7-148 Faulkner (34.3 overs), 8-196 Cummins (40.6 overs), 9-226 Starc (42.6 overs), 10-280 Hazlewood (46.6 overs)
