Live Report - Australia vs New Zealand, Men's T20 World Cup 2022, Sydney

Ten years can be a good time to wait for some things - inspiration, lifetime service awards, the right blend of salt and pepper in your hair - but not a win. New Zealand last beat Australia in Australia in December 2011. They've finally followed it up, 15 matches later, with a performance that maybe makes it all worth it.

Finn Allen announced himself as the new face of this batting line-up. His 42 of 16 balls was the spark that sharpened the iron, which his opening partner then took and promptly plunged into the heart of the defending champions.

Devon Conway batted through the entire 20 overs to make 92 off 58 and posed a question to Australia. Can you make the highest total ever made in this country to win a T20I? The answer was well...

By the end, the Kiwis were doing things that shouldn't be possible. Like flying.

Glenn Phillips was the man who gut-punched gravity as he ran to his right, about 15 yards, leapt off his feet, got horizontal with the ground, sent his resume to Warner Bros just in case they're looking for a new Superman, and came up with a catch that will become the image of this very one-sided match.

Santner 4-0-31-3
Sodhi 4-0-29-1
Zampa 4-0-39-1

Those stats tell a story that may sound slightly reductive. But somewhere in there is the story of a set of bowlers who don't always attract the spotlight but they definitely deserve it.

Santner, for example, is one of the best at tying a batter down; at landing the ball at the exact pace, with the exact flight that makes it annoying for hitting through the line.

Sodhi, because of that, has free reign to toss the ball up and make it spin big. This partnership, when on song, is a treat.

If bad luck and the bizarre had a baby and turned it into a ball to get David Warner out, Glenn Phillips has just gut punched gravity to remove Marcus Stoinis

Just in case you didn't know (and with respect to PNG's TP Ura and Bahrain's Sarfaraz Ali) Stionis has the highest strike rate for a batter who has scored at least 100 runs against spin since the last World Cup - 174.24. He also averages 57.

He would've backed himself to take down Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi. But the scythe over cover, as much as he tried to keep it away from the sweeper, is still within Phillips' reach. He runs to his right, about 15 yards, then leaps off his feet, gets horizontal with the ground, sends his resume to Warner Bros just in case they're looking for a new Superman, and comes up with a catch that will be hard to top at this World Cup.

Glenn Maxwell, who came into this game on the back of seven single-digit scores, is carrying all of Australia's hopes now. And he's up for it, having hit a 95m six wrong-handed (left-handed) over cover (midwicket). He's 28 off 19. His team needs 119 off 48 balls.

This is another player who has gone through substantial reinvention.

It's mostly the understanding that he can't keep bowling the same pace every ball. A bowler who only used the slower ball as an indulgence (8% between 2008 and 2017) is now totally committed to them. Since 2018, he bowls his offcutters alone more often (11%). And he's got a knuckle ball as well.

This change of pace is what brought New Zealand the Marsh wicket. The man who took them out in the last T20 final is back in the hut.

Come get your match-ups!

Trent Boult is New Zealand's gun bowler. They have brought him here even though he is no longer on their retainer. He was getting swing. He had two overs in the bag but Kane Williamson chooses to save him.

He goes to Mitchell Santner. And here's why.

Marsh doesn't do spin (T20 SR 110) as well as he does pace (T20 SR 140) Also, Finch, in this year, averages 7 against left-arm spin (14 runs in five innings and two dismissals)

Guess what happened...

Finch c Williamson b Santner 13 off 11.

NZ had two slips to him and the ball was swinging.

They had it for three balls.

Then Williamson changed the field and pulled one of the catchers out.

Fourth ball, Warner is stuck in the crease, his bat is ahead of his body, his balance is all off, and the outside edge would've gone straight to second slip... if there had been one

Warner punched his partner's gloves with gusty at that stroke of luck. But the next one he gets is of the opposite variety. Like it's way off the charts. Black cat, broken mirror, don't matter, move over.

Because Warner manages to sweep-pull a slower ball onto his thigh, it ricochets up in the air, at the exact place where his bat is following through, and the ball pings off it to break his stumps.

Finch: two dismissals for 80 runs in 63 balls
Warner: two dismissals for 59 runs in 60 balls
Maxwell: three dismissals for 29 runs in 34 balls
Stoinis: one dismissal for 34 runs in 29 balls
Wade: four dismissals for 58 runs in 37 balls
Marsh: zero dismissals for 41 runs in 28 balls

Spot the very obvious difference.

(All stats for T20 cricket)

A man who doesn't have a New Zealand central contract right now hoists the team up to 200.

Jimmy Neesham was offered one - but only after Trent Boult and Colin de Grandhomme had declined theirs - and by that time the allrounder had made other plans. He's a sought after name in franchise cricket. And this is why.

He does the Andre Russell role. The Dinesh Karthik role. The Tim David role. Perhaps not as well, or to as much acclaim as the others, but he is still mighty effective.

Australia will need to score more runs than anybody has ever done to win a T20I on these shores.

Meanwhile, if any of you collect player cards, autographed bats or other memorabilia from cricket games, you may be interested in their digital versions. This World Cup, the cricket world is meeting the world of digital collectibles. ESPNcricinfo’s digital collectibles partners FanCraze are allowing fans to pre-buy iconic moments from each match of the World Cup called the Crictos of the Game. We’ll also have a daily video show here on ESPNcricinfo with our experts picking their favourite moments from the games.

Australia have pulled things back, the quicks by taking pace off the ball and banging it into the pitch, the spinner by being liberal with his googly. Now they need to finish well.

So what's up with Kane Williamson?

The only man who made any sense as cricket took a detour into the twilight zone seven years ago at Eden Park, Auckland...

... appears to be waning.

The abiding image of his batting is how late he plays the ball. But close on the heels of that is his high elbow. The same elbow that's been so dodgy lately.

He's tried to work through it, mostly by trying to spend time in the middle, but that is leading to innings where he takes too many balls to score too little runs and in the end leaves himself no option but to take risks.

Today he fell playing the sweep to Adam Zampa. Shiva Jayaraman tells me his average playing the sweep (of various kinds) against spinners since 2021 is 8.0, SR - 148, 4 dismissals in 22 balls. He was actively forced to take a poor option because of what happened before.

Because Williamson against spin with all other shots: Ave 139.6, SR 106.1, 3 dismissals in 395 balls.

Devon Conway made his debut for New Zealand on the back of scoring triple-centuries in first-class cricket.

So people knew he was capable.

But T20 cricket requires a different set of skills. A lack of regard for your wicket. A willingness to fail for a shot at success.

First-class cricketers can't always do that. But Conway did. He is the joint-third-fastest to 1000 runs in terms of innings (26) in this format, level with Babar Azam and behind Dawid Malan and Sabawoon Davizi

Take a look at his career breakdown as well

2020: four matches, 174 runs, 58 average, 151 strike rate
2021: 13 matches, 428 runs, 46.6 average, 135 strike rate
2022: 8 matches, 339 runs, 55 average, 126 strike rate

A lot of this is because of his ability to hit spin - he loves coming down the track against them, and pulling out the various sweeps. And unlike most left-hand hitters, he favours the off side. Opening the face and targeting cover and mid-off. All of that has been on display here, taking him to 62 off 40 balls in the 14th over.

NZ 56 in four overs with Allen at the crease.

Allen falls at 4.1

NZ make 41 runs in the next 35 balls. (Main cause: Williamson 12 off 16)

They're still 97 for 1 in 10 overs. And they are one of the best teams at finishing a T20 innings at this World Cup.

Since the last World Cup, they maintained a run rate of 10.19 in the last four overs. That puts them behind only India and South Africa among the teams here at this tournament.

On top of being in poor form, New Zealand's captain is in facing his bogey bowler to start off his innings.

He'll need a little help from his partner at the other end, Devon Conway, who is much more comfortable when there's no pace to work with (SR 137 since Nov 2021).

Mark Chapman (SR 164.70), next man in, is even better. Then there's Mitchell Santner (SR 180.25)

This is the impact of an opener going at 264. It helps mask potential weaknesses.

New Zealand, it seems, had decided that they would attack Hazlewood by charging at him.

That's how they wanted to put him off his lengths. Off his discipline. Off his best means of building pressure and taking wickets.

He had only bowled seven balls but NZ had already charged at him twice.

The first time, Allen was able to flat-bat a four through cover. Because Hazlewood was still bowling his stock ball.

The second time, Allen came charging, he was met with a pin-point yorker.

New-ball bowlers don't go to yorkers this early. It's more a last resort. But Hazlewood knew something had to be done. And he also had the tools to do it. More proof that he is no longer predictable; no longer hittable.

Since November 2021, among the teams at this World Cup, New Zealand go at a run-rate of 8.87 against fast bowling. That's second-best behind India's 8.98.

Hazlewood's first over

Cummins' first over

Stoinis' first over

NZ 56 for 0

Well, that was very Game of Thrones Red Wedding.

You have to understand that New Zealand are playing blind here. There is rain expected. This game will shrink. Australia will have 10 full wickets to gun down a reduced target in reduced overs.

So every ball has to go. And in Finn Allen they have just the perfect batter for these conditions.

Now if he can fix this silly thing where 55% of his T20 innings don't last over 10 balls...

LUCKY!. Off the ninth ball he faces - a slick little slower bouncer from Cummins - Allen is into his pull shot too early, he's off balance as he plays the pull, and is nearly caught at short fine leg. Adam Zampa is unable to hold on and the next ball is crashed over extra cover's head.

Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc made their Australia debuts in 2010. Pat Cummins joined them in 2011.

Its remarkable then that there's only been 12 T20Is where they've played together, as a fast-bowling unit.

Australia have won nine of those, which points to their ability to influence these matches.

A lot of it is because of workload management. A necessary evil to preserve, in particular, the X-factor that Starc brings with his pace. But also Hazlewood wasn't the awesomesauce he is now.

He was unable to cope with his Test match lengths turning into slot balls in this format. He had to go away. He had to work on himself. Recalibrate. Reinvent. Reform.

Since then, he's developed a solid change of pace. He's understood the value of wide yorkers. His height also helps him out, giving him bounce even on the most docile pitches. All of that's translated to wickets.

Through it all, he's reprised his primary skill - being a new-ball threat. He is the leading powerplay bowler with 23 wickets (the best since 2021) and an economy rate of 5.8 (second best since 2021)

Australia: David Warner, Aaron Finch, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Matthew Wade, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood

New Zealand: Finn Allen, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult

Both teams wanted to bowl because of the rain. They're clearly expecting some later in the day. It goes against the grain a bit, given teams batting first have won nine of the 15 T20s at the SCG since 2020.

But again... it's been raining. The surface has been under covers for virtually the entire time; hidden away beyond everyone's reach, protected from the elements at all costs. Seriously, it's giving me celebrity vibes.

Isa Guha at the pitch report said it was damp and two-paced and that it will likely not come onto the bat until the lights take full effect. So huge advantage for Australia. They are going to bowl when the pitch will offer more for the bowlers and they will get to bat when it will be easier to hit the boundaries.

Sidharth Monga on the A-Z of the T20 World Cup 2022
Matthew Wade Interview: I try to invent a new shot every 12 months
Andrew McGlashan on

• changing New Zealand team and the challenge they face tonight
• a thorny-run in for Australia as they aim to become the first team to win back-to-back T20 World Cups

Also, if any of you collect player cards, autographed bats or other memorabilia from cricket games, you may be interested in their digital versions. This World Cup, the cricket world is meeting the world of digital collectibles. ESPNcricinfo’s digital collectibles partners FanCraze are allowing fans to pre-buy iconic moments from each match of the World Cup called the Crictos of the Game. We’ll also have a daily video show here on ESPNcricinfo with our experts picking their favourite moments from the games.

*AND* Vote for the greatest T20 performance in all men's T20 World Cups! It's Yuvraj Singh vs Re-re-re-reeemembeeeer the naaaaammmeeeee!

There was a threat of weather playing spoilsport today. But really did anybody have any doubt that the mighty cricket gods *puffs up chest* wouldn't be able to overpower a silly low-pressure system. Psh. La Niña. You don't scare nobody. *crossing all 20 digits, spinning around three times and spitting over shoulder*

Sydney kicks off the eighth edition of the T20 World Cup. (Fans in the US can watch it live on ESPN+) It's a new-ball ground where batters may have to rein themselves in at the start and cash in at the end.

For an in-depth look at the patterns of T20 cricket on Austrlian grounds, please enjoy this Andrew McGlashan and S Rajesh collabo feat. David 'the Hussmeister' Hussey (I toooootally made that up but apparently Hussmeister loosely translates to building superintendent in German... which seems quite appropriate)