Introduction
Hello cricket fans! Welcome to game two of the live coverage of the men’s T20 international clash for the Chappell-Hadlee series. Australia lead the series one-nil after defeating the hosts by six wickets in the first match on Wednesday.
The win was anchored by the powerful batting of captain Mitchell Marsh, who thundered 85 runs off 43 balls with 9 boundaries and five sixes at a strike-rate of 197.67.
New Zealand were hammered with the ball but will take solace from their performance with the bat. Even after losing three wickets in the initial overs, they bounced back to reach what appeared a competitive 181 runs, led by Tim Robinson’s brilliant maiden century.
Weather Conditions
A quick weather forecast…
Sadly, it’s a rainy day at Mount Maunganui and the light rain, which ceased an earlier, has started again. Although the radar shows clearing conditions approaching, for now the coin toss and confirmation of the two XIs for today will be postponed.
Nonetheless, I’m assured Bay Oval has a excellent drainage that handles rain effectively, so fingers crossed we get some cricket action shortly.
Squad Updates
Here are today’s teams…
NEW ZEALAND
1 Tim Seifert (wk), 2 Devon Conway, Tim Robinson, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, 6 Michael Bracewell (capt), Jimmy Neesham, Matt Henry, 9 Ben Sears, 10 Ish Sodhi, Jacob Duffy
An altered squad for the New Zealand with all-rounder Jimmy Neesham added to the team, fast bowler Ben Sears in, and 32-year-old leg-spinner Ish Sodhi also included.
AUSTRALIA
1 Travis Head, 2 Mitchell Marsh (capt), 3 Matt Short, Tim David, Alex Carey (wicketkeeper), 6 Marcus Stoinis, 7 Mitch Owen, 8 Xavier Bartlett, 9 Sean Abbott, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh Hazlewood
One change for the Aussies with pace bowler Sean Abbott taking the place of Ben Dwarshuis.
Coin Toss
Coin toss: New Zealand won the toss and opted to bowl
The New Zealand captain called right and chooses to field at the Australians. The Australian skipper probably would have chosen similarly so an early win for the hosts. But, the Black Caps will need to start a lot better than they did in the first match where Australia raced to 67 in the first five overs before the New Zealand picked up their initial breakthrough.
Game Setup
More good news, everyone: the covers have been removed at the ground and we have official word that this match will go ahead as an 18-overs-per-side affair.
Player Highlights
Tim Robinson’s debut T20I hundred in the opening match was a spectacular effort in a losing cause. The Black Caps were 6-3 in the early stages, with Josh Hazlewood dismissing the opener in the opening over and Ben Dwarshuis taking two wickets in two balls to send two top-order batsmen back to the sheds before the young batsman walked out confidently. In his 13th T20 international, the tousle-haired 23-year-old scored an not out 106 runs from 66 deliveries.
He hit 6 boundaries and 5 sixes along the way and concluded his innings in style, with a boundary and a maximum from the final two balls!
Injury Updates
Several fans leaving at the stadium so we hope to have a coin toss and the confirmed teams for you shortly. But, there are a heap of players missing across the board through fitness issues, Test commitments, parental duties or freak accidents.
Weirdest of all, both squads lost their key all-rounders on the day before the series in bizarre training mishaps. On Tuesday, Black Caps gun Rachin Ravindra hit an signboard during a fielding practice and sustained a serious cut to his face that needed stitching and made him unavailable for the entire series.
That very day, Australian star Glenn Maxwell had one of his meaty wrists fractured while bowling in the nets thanks to tonk-happy teammate Mitchell Owen. It means The Big Show is a no-show for this series and may be in question for the domestic season too.
Previous Match Recap
While the teams complete their final warm-ups at Bay Oval, we might take a look back at the first match. Both teams arrived in hot form, with the Australians on a winning streak of 15 victories from their last 17 T20s and the Kiwis having won 9 out of 11 matches in 2025.
Women’s World Cup Connection
Naturally today’s T20I is also a tasty entree for the Women’s World Cup being played in India. Australia are on a quest to win a seventh World Cup, and be the first female side to win back-to-back championships since 1988. They began their tournament with a win against the White Ferns and tonight square off against the Lankan team.
Proud Muruwari woman Ashleigh Gardner scored the first century of the competition, rescuing Australia from a precarious position with a composed 115 off 83 balls that helped her team to post 326 all out in 49.3 overs. The Australians went on to defeat the New Zealand by 89 runs.
