3 takeaways from Australia's 3-0 thrashing of New Zealand in T20I series
Australia had the best of preparations for the upcoming T20 World Cup after beating Trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand 3-0 in the T20I series. The two sides will now move to Wellington for the start of the two-match Test series.
The Aussies were very professional in their approach and didn't allow the New Zealanders to have any sniff whatsoever. After being rescued by Tim David in the opening T20I, Australia gained from strength to strength, eventually completing a 3-0 whitewash on their neighbours.
While many of the Australian players will feature in the Indian Premier League (IPL), the Australian selection committee have got a vivid idea on where the players stand and what should be the tentative World Cup squad.
New Zealand on the other hand will have a series against Pakistan in April to fine-tune their combinations. It will be an opportunity for the non-IPL players to stake a claim for selection for the marque event slated to be held in the West Indies and USA from June 2.
Having said that, let us have a look a three takeaways from the series:
# The emergence of Mitchell Marsh as a proper all-rounder
Mitchell Marsh led the side admirably in the T20I series and could be Australia's potential captain for the World Cup. While Mitchell Marsh was always a sought-after all-round player, he hasn't put up a consistent performance with the ball in many years.
However, this series turned things around for the medium pacer who played crucial roles in Australia's victory in the first two outings. Marsh didn't make the Australian team feel the absence of Marcus Stoinis as a bowler and took a wicket each in the two encounters at a brilliant economy rate.
Marsh's body didn't allow him to bowl regularly all through his career. However, it was the ankle surgery last year which played a big role in Marsh realising his full potential as an all-rounder.
While he didn't take a bag of wickets, he made a significant impact as a bowler and a captain. With the bat in hand, Marsh scored a match-winning 72 in the first encounter followed by a stroke-filled 26 in the next.
# Tim David is a potential big match finisher
While Tim David has shown his finishing skills in the Indian Premier League (IPL), the T20I series was an opportunity to express himself as the finisher for Australia. His exceptional knock in the opening T20I has more or less confirmed his ticket to the T20 World Cup unless something dramatic happens in the IPL.
From a seemingly impossible position for Australia in the opening T20I, David turned the game on its head with a blistering knock of 31 which came in just 10 deliveries. With Australia requiring 28 off 8 deliveries, David unleashed his Virat Kohli mode and took the New Zealand bowlers to the cleaners. He smashed a boundary off the final delivery to win it for the Aussies.
David has done this many times in his T20 career but that knock was enough to stamp his authority in the shortest format of the game. David scored 17 in the second T20I followed by a 3-ball 8 in the final match of the series.
# The 140 kph plus bowling trio of Ferguson-Milne-Sears
We don't often see all three fast bowlers in your team consistently click the 140-kph mark. However the trio Lockie Ferguson, Adam Milne and Ben Sears were hostile with their pace in the first two encounters and while it didn't necessarily win them matches, it will certainly give them an upper hand going into pitches like USA and West Indies.
The higher the pace is, the more difficult it becomes to read the pace variations. On pitches which could be low and slow, we might not see all three fast bowlers playing together in the World Cup but the future certainly looks bright as far as the fast bowling unit is concerned.
Ferguson was exceptional in the opening encounter while Ben Sears made his mark in the second match. Adam Milne has also been a proven material and if both Milne and Sears can perform in their final T20I assignment before the World Cup, they can make a case for themselves.