Australia and New Zealand are locking horns in the grand finale of the T20 World Cup 2021 in Dubai. Both teams dug deep to win their respective semifinals and paved the way to the marquee clash.
Aaron Finch won the toss and opted to bowl first. Australia remained unchanged with their playing XI for the final while New Zealand replaced injured Devon Conway with Tim Seifert in their playing XI.
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Martin Guptill and Daryl Mitchell walked out to open the innings for New Zealand. Guptill hit a four on the second ball of the match to kick off the things for New Zealand. Both openers were not taking any unnecessary risk upfront. Josh Hazlewood removed Mitchell before Adam Zampa dismissed Guptill for 35-ball 28 runs.
Kane Williamson was holding the one end tight and unleashed the beast mode after the halfway mark of the innings. He belted Mitchell Starc to all corners of the park and looted 22 runs in one of Starc’s overs.
Williamson scored flamboyant 85 runs in 48 balls, which featured 10 fours and three sixes. This fifty by Williamson was the fastest fifty by any player in a T20 World Cup Final. It was his innings that propelled New Zealand’s total to 172/4 in 20 overs. Josh Hazlewood was the pick of the bowlers with 3 wickets for 16 runs in four overs.
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In response, Aaron Finch and David Warner walked out to begin Australia’s response. Trent Boult removed Finch for 5 in the third over of the chase. Mitchell Marsh walked out at number three and smashed six and two fours on the first three balls he faced. Warner was going strong and raised fifty before getting out to Boult.
Mitchell Marsh, however, was unfazed with it and raised his fifty. He found a good ally in Glenn Maxwell as the duo scored 63 runs for the third wicket to win the T20 World Cup 2021 for Australia by eight wickets. Marsh scored unbeaten 77 runs in 50 balls, where he hit six fours and four sixes.
See how Twitter reacted to the final;
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👏 Congratulations to @CricketAus on winning the #T20WorldCup #T20WorldCupFinal pic.twitter.com/OJAyoX9gGG
— Lord's Cricket Ground (@HomeOfCricket) November 14, 2021
Tremendous final, some terrific batting! Williamson played one of the all-time classics, but Warner and Marsh were just unstoppable! Congratulations to Australia on their maiden triumph, New Zealand have nothing to be ashamed of. #T20WorldCup
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) November 14, 2021
YOU LITTLE RIPPER 💪🏽 @T20WorldCup CHAMPIONS 🎉🎉 Well done to @CricketAus team. Came into the tournament as a dark horse, lost series in the lead up. Built nicely throughout & played their best cricket in the knockout games. Enjoy the night guys. 1st #T20WorldCup 🏆
— Lisa Sthalekar (@sthalekar93) November 14, 2021
Australia were ranked 7th T20Is before the #T20WorldCup 2021 began.
They are the Champions now!
— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) November 14, 2021
Intuition gone wrong !! This team is something els under pressure 🇦🇺 congratulations Australia what a victory ✌️ feel for the black caps #mitchelmarsh outstanding innings along with @davidwarner31 well played #KaneWilliamson #NZvAUS #T20WorldCup
— Yuvraj Singh (@YUVSTRONG12) November 14, 2021
Congratulations to both teams on a terrific #ICCT20WorldCup final and tournament !!! In the end the Aussies peaked at the right time & just had to many match winners for NZ. Congrats to @AaronFinch5 & all the Aussie boys ! Very happy for M Marsh too – Great stuff ✅👍
— Shane Warne (@ShaneWarne) November 14, 2021
Congratulations Australia👏👏 #T20WorldCupFinal
— Ashwin 🇮🇳 (@ashwinravi99) November 14, 2021
2015 WC – Runners-up #NZ
2019 WC – Runners-up #NZ
2021 WT20 – Runners-up #NZ
Hard luck Kiwis! #T20WorldCupFinal #AusVsNZ
— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) November 14, 2021
Amazing by the Aussies!! Congratulations @CricketAus 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾#T20WorldCupFinal #T20WorldCupChampions
— Mpumelelo Mbangwa (@mmbangwa) November 14, 2021
#Australia just too powerful. What a player Mitch Marsh has become. Hopefully his body becomes a partner in his future because he is too good to be playing as little he has. Brilliant today
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) November 14, 2021
https://twitter.com/KP24/status/1459930864238927873
Zampa's wicket of Guptill was the moment of the match. It was a good match up for New Zealand, had to take him on but wasn't to be. This lead to New Zealand being 20 runs short. #NZvsAUS #AusVsNZ #T20WorldCupFinal
— Brad Hogg (@Brad_Hogg) November 14, 2021
As I said on the 22/10/21 ✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅ ! Tight finish this 👍👍 https://t.co/KSidmTSoaQ
— Shane Warne (@ShaneWarne) November 14, 2021
