New Zealand vs Australia, 1st T20I - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

NZ recover

Conway has been brilliant today. He is once again proving to be a very important member of this batting line up. Glenn Phillips is also chipping in at the other end and he has just smashed Zampa over the long on to fetch a six that brings up the 50-run partnership. New Zealand need these two to hang in there for a while.

Serious trouble

This is a massive massive wicket here for Australia and New Zealand are looking clueless out there. Sams bowls a cross seamer to Williamson and the skipper only manages to get an under edge through to the keeper. Australia are absolutely delighted. New Zealand are 19/3 now.

Timber!!

Now you know why teams were fighting for his services at the auction table last Thursday. Jhye Richardson bowls one full and fast with the new ball and hits the base of the off stump and Tim Seifert follows Guptill back to the pavilion. New Zealand are in trouble quite early as Devon Conway joins his skipper Williamson out in the middle. They have a rebuilding job to do now.

Duck for Guptill

His woeful form continues. He only has a smile on his way back to the pavilion. To be fair to him, he couldn't have done much here. On his day, he would have fetched four for this. Daniel Sams bowls the first over and Guptill sees one fairly full and wide and slashes it straight to the fielder at backward point. The pressure is only going to mount. Kane Williamson is the new man in.

Toss -Australia opt to bowl

No surprises here as Finch opts to bowl after winning the toss. Josh Phillipe makes his debut tonight and it will be interesting to see where he bats.

Teams:

Australia (Playing XI): Aaron Finch(c), Matthew Wade(w), Josh Philippe, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Marsh, Daniel Sams, Ashton Agar, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa

New Zealand (Playing XI): Martin Guptill, Tim Seifert(w), Kane Williamson(c), Devon Conway, Glenn Phillips, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Kyle Jamieson, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult

Build up

2021 is indeed the year of T20 cricket. Not often do you see teams facing each other in a five-match T20I series but with the World Cup scheduled to be held this year and one more next year, we are gradually seeing more teams focusing on this format. Both Australia and New Zealand know that there are gaps to fill ahead of the tournament in India later this year and this series is all about throwing in more players into the deep sea in order to see what they can come up with.

It is also a vital series for some of the established guns to rubber stamp their credentials as one of the best in the business. Martin Guptill was once looked at upon as the immovable object in that New Zealand T20I XI but his place is definitely under threat now after an under-par showing at home against Pakistan and West Indies recently. He didn't get going in the Super Smash either and was battling a hamstring injury, which he has shrugged off in time to get fit for today's opener. With Finn Allen breathing down his neck, Guptill knows that this is going to be a vital series for him. The same is the case with Australian skipper Aaron Finch who has had a rough few months in the IPL and the Big Bash League. Can he bat himself into form finally?

There will be a lot of focus on some of the seamers as well who managed to fetch bumper contracts in the recently-concluded IPL auction. Can Jhye Richardson and Kyle Jamieson showcase their abilities on the international stage? We certainly hope so. Welcome to the live blog for the first match of what promises to be an exciting series.