New Zealand vs Australia, 2nd T20I at Mount Maunganui, NZ vs AUS, Oct 03 2025 - Ball by Ball Commentary

9.55pm And that's it, we are done. Match abandoned. The weather always looked like being the winner. It means Australia retain the Chappell-Hadlee trophy. New Zealand can still level the series tomorrow, although the forecast isn't much better. Two key takeaways from today: Ish Sodhi's caps record and a little dent to Travis Head's average.

Mitchell Marsh: "Days like today are always difficult...we do our best to get a game for the crowd. Hopefully tomorrow is a good day. I was 1 off 5 in a nine-over game, never felt more pressure in my career. Nice to walk off, was about to retire myself."

Michael Bracewell: "We wanted to play a game but unfortunately the weather didn't play ball. Spoke before the game about trying to nail the powerplay...think it showed the way we want to be playing. Will be interesting to see what happens tomorrow. We just want to keep building, we made a few adjustments from [game] one to two. We hold a lot of pride in the jersey."

Well, there's not much more to say about this one. Thanks for staying with us. You can follow the India-West Indies Test here and England-South Africa in the Women's ODI World Cup is about to get going. We'll be back tomorrow for the final match of the series. Until then, from Gnasher and Alex, it's goodbye.

9.49pm Hello folks. It's wet. It's been one of the great Friday evenings so far!

9.42pm It's raining solidly. The players are heading off. The covers are coming on. That might be it. The full covers are being pulled onto the square.

News is we have about 30 minutes to get started again otherwise this is done. It's raining solidly. Fans who braved the conditions are starting to head to the exits. Gnasher will step into commentary.

Four balls left in the powerplay. Sears to bowl. It is raining

Short at No.3 as expected

Two light towers have gone out. Now they are back on

Great over. Plenty in the surface

Abhimanyu : "How many overs can one bowler bowl?" Four can bowl two, one can bowl one

No slip

Henry has the new ball. Marsh on strike coming off 85 in game one.

The players head to the middle. Umpire Cory Black is on international debut and his two kids walked out with him. Nice touch.

9.28pm New Zealand are in a huddle on the boundary. Marsh and Head are opening.

Daniel : "I wonder if we would see Tim David opening with Mitch Marsh?" Australia may stay with their top four and then adjust at No.5 with Carey probably sliding to 7. We shall see.

9.16pm The New Zealand team are heading out to warm-up in their playing kit.

It will be a 9.30pm start. A nine over game. The powerplay will be 2.4 overs, 16 balls.. No drinks break and a 10 minute change of innings.

Kannadachi : "A truncated match definitely favors the team chasing. Still , you got to bowl well 1st !"

9.14pm The are using the heavy air drier on the edges of the square where the water has pooled. The latest we can start is 10.01pm. So there is time if it dries sufficiently. The umpires are now chatting with the two captains.

9.07pm Still no update since the clean up began. The umpires are headed to the middle for a look and a feel of the moisture on the outfield.

8.47pm The rain has stopped. The ground staff are starting the mop up. Covers are being peeled off.

Paul: "Big cheer for the groundstaff coming out to remove the heavy cover. Could we be on soon?"

8.43pm Max : "Sorry, it's raining again. reckon that's it. " Max giveth and Max taketh away.

The radar does look clear behind this. Cut-off apparently is 10pm for a start. But that's unofficial.

Richard Hadlee: "I am busy following Samoa cricket for Ross Taylor. Leave me alone!"

8.30pm Max: "At the ground, it has stopped raining, but that was a big downpour. The tractor has just turned back on! "

Jake : "you could make a pretty decent NZ XI out of players not available/injured. Young, Allen, Williamson, Ravindra, Phillips, Jacobs, Santner, Smith, Ferguson, Milne, O Rourke, That team would make a WC semi "

Ric: "'Richard Hadlee' claiming they don't follow NZ cricket up close? I smell a rat.."

Richard Pringle: "isn't it "Sir Richard Hadlee"? the disrespect!"

8.15pm It's still raining solidly. It will clear but it might be another 15 minutes at least.

Steve: "It feels a bit like Australia have cracked the code to t20 batting. Dont worry about picking aby stabilising batsmen in your side, pick 7 genuine big hitters and hope 1 to 2 of them go off. Feels like they are posting/chasing 200 every game off the back of a couple of big innings" It's taken a long time but this is the most dynamic T20 batting team Australia has ever put together.

Jase Toi: "Indoor Cricket World Cup semi final starting soon between Aus and NZ! Can't get rained off indoors"

Dom : "@Hayden: because he scored at less than a run a ball! That is not a fantastic job in T20 cricket! "

Richard Hadlee: "For those not following NZ cricket up close, what's the reason Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mitch Santner and Nathan Smith aren't in the squad? Building up to the WC, I'd expect these names " They're all injured. As is Finn Allen, Lockie Ferguson, Adam Milne, and Will O'Rourke. Kane Williamson is fit but he made himself unavailable for the series.

8.04pm Oh dear. It's raining again. Covers are on. Solid rain too. The radar says it should be a short burst but we will lose more overs I reckon.

Hayden: "I cannot understand why Jacobs is dropped. He did a fantastic job of supporting Robinson. Did a lot more than others who have kept there spot"

Pranav: "@Alex, hey can you tell if the 30 minute gap between toss and play is absolutely necessary or it can be shortened to 10 minutes? So many rule changes, but nothing related to this, why?" I don't have an answer to this Pranav I'm sorry. We still wouldn't be playing now even if that were the case. We might have got two overs max in before this shower.

8pm Evening all.

Tee: "No Maxwell again?" He's out for awhile Tee with a fractured wrist.

7.55pm Pete: "This is a better balance but I would've preferred if they'd given Jacobs a chance to atone for day 1. Should've dropped Conway and opened with Robinson."

Right, to take you up to the start and the first part of the innings, it's over to Alex.

7.45pm New Zealand won the toss and bowl. The weather around played a key part in that, says Michael Bracewell. So Australia will need to set a total. "All good," says Mitch Marsh.

New Zealand 1 Tim Seifert (wk), 2 Devon Conway, 3 Tim Robinson, 4 Mark Chapman, 5 Daryl Mitchell, 6 Michael Bracewell (capt), 7 Jimmy Neesham, 8 Matt Henry, 9 Ben Sears, 10 Ish Sodhi, 11 Jacob Duffy

Australia 1 Travis Head, 2 Mitchell Marsh (capt), 3 Matt Short, 4 Tim David, 5 Alex Carey (wk), 6 Marcus Stoinis, 7 Mitch Owen, 8 Xavier Bartlett, 9 Sean Abbott, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh Hazlewood

Three changes for the home side. Ish Sodhi becomes their most capped player in Men's T20Is. Neesham and Sears also into the side. One change for Australia with Sean Abbott replacing Ben Dwarshuis.

7.40pm Players out in the middle warming up. Will be an 18-over contest with an 8.15pm start. There will be a 5.2 over powerplay, which is a new (ish) playing condition that had passed me by

7.30pm Well, we have a development: the broadcast is saying the toss will be at 7.45pm local.

7.25pm Matthew: "Yes, Kane should be selected for the T20 WC...providing he plays some T20s before the squad is announced. He might be our best ever, but that still shouldn't be a free pass into the side." - Understanding is he's due to be available to face England

7.10pm As these teams build towards the T20 World Cup early next year, there will be some big calls for both to make over top-order selection. Does Tim Robinson find a spot when everyone is available? What about Matt Short for Australia?

7.00pm The radar does suggest we may get some clearer weather coming through in a little while. Seeing the first pictures of Bay Oval. A lot of water.

6.45pm Unsurprisingly the toss has officially been delayed. It's damp.

As we wait, you can dive into Alex's recent piece about how Cricket Australia may need to assess their central contracts system in light of a changing landscape. NZC have been proactive in this area, although it still creates significant debate.

6.35pm Jeremy: "The rain had just started again and unfortunately it is now bucketing down…"

Back in Australia, the Sheffield Shield starts tomorrow with plenty on the line. Here's our team-by-team guide.

6.25pm Maverick: "Am a stones throw from Bay Oval and it's still drizzling, as it had been all day. Not looking to promising I'm afraid! Perhaps that's not the worst thing for the Blackcaps given our record against our big bros…"

Chris Thom: "Travelled down from Auckland today through non stop rain that varied between moderate and torrential with zero hope of seeing any cricket today. However it has finally stopped in the last 20 minutes or so and the app forecasts have changed and are now saying there should be a dry window from now until 10pm or so."

Jeremy: "I live a few minutes from the Bay Oval. It has been raining most of the afternoon, however, the rain stopped about an hour ago. The Bay Oval has a great drainage system so hopefully we should see some play this evening, perhaps a short delay."

There is some live cricket as we speak: India are building a lead over West Indies, although a wicket has just fallen.

6.20pm Regular visitors here may know I'm a fan of a rain radar: here's the one for North Island. If there's anyone in the vicinity of Bay Oval (please genuinely be there!) who can provide an update, fire it over.

Paul: "Sitting in my hotel waiting to head to the ground. Been raining for hours and there is almost no wind to blow it away. A local told me it would pass. Not feeling hopeful though"

Meanwhile, as we settle in, have a read of this interview with Kyle Jamieson where he details his road back from injury. Especially interesting on the advice he's sought from outside cricket circles.

The search for answers also took him away from New Zealand Cricket for advice. He found Auckland-based couple Chelsea Lane and Matt Dallow. Lane, an Australian, was the head performance therapist for the Golden State Warriors during their NBA Championship winning seasons of 2015 and 2017, working with some of highest profile athletes on the planet including Stephen Curry. Dallow, Lane's husband, competed for New Zealand in two winter Olympics in the bobsled before transitioning into being a performance coach in track and field.

"They've done a huge amount of work in rebuilding athletes and biomechanics and just how to stack up your body properly," Jamieson said. "They advise on everything, right from how my body's moving, what my gym program looks like, what the [bowling] load numbers look like.

6.15pm Hello everyone and welcome to what we hope will be coverage of the second match of this T20I series. It's been a wet day in Mount Maunganui and the forecast isn't overly promising, but we'll keep our fingers crossed. Australia were convincing winners of the opening game, despite Tim Robinson's superb century which rescued New Zealand from 6 for 3.