Ashton Agar takes 6-30 as Australia beats New Zealand in third T20I

Glenn Maxwell dashed 70 from 31 balls, Aaron Finch returned to kind with 69 and Ashton Agar took a career-best 6-30 as Australia beat New Zealand by 64 runs within the third Twenty20 worldwide on Wednesday to maintain the five-match collection alive.
Maxwell reached a half century from 25 balls throughout an over by which he hit 28 runs _ two sixes and 4 fours _ from the bowling of Jimmy Neesham. At its finish, his innings included eight fours and 5 sixes and set Australia on target to its commanding complete of 208-4.
Tall Tasmania quick bowler Riley Meredith took 2-24 in his worldwide debut, then Agar claimed six wickets in succession to stifle New Zealand’s reply. The dwelling workforce was bowled out for 144 in 17.1 overs.
Meredith dismissed Tim Seifert (4) in his first over and claimed the prized wicket of New Zealand captain Kane Williamson (9) in his second to place New Zealand underneath stress early.
Agar first dismissed Devon Conway (38), then took the wickets of Glenn Phillips (13), Neesham (0) and Tim Southee (5) within the area of 5 deliveries, suppressing New Zealand’s harmful decrease center order. He eliminated Mark Chapman (18) and Kyle Jamieson (11) to snuff out any likelihood of a late rally and obtain his second five-wicket bag in T20 internationals.
“It’s always good to get wickets, particularly when you go wicketless in the first two (matches),” Agar mentioned. “But when you will have 200 on the board it makes my job lots simpler.
“The boys bowled beautifully up front and I was lucky to have a great team around me.”
Finch rediscovered his kind after a lean Big Bash season and after making solely 12 and 1 within the first two matches of the present collection which New Zealand received by 53 runs and 4 runs, respectively. His 69 in partnerships of 83 with Josh Philippe (43) and 64 with Maxwell set a robust basis for Australia’s innings.
Finch survived two assured lbw appeals within the first over, then hit his stride, hanging the ball powerfully down the bottom and over the leg facet to succeed in his half century from 34 balls with a six from a free hit off Ish Sodhi.
His partnership with Philippe gave Australia a robust tempo which noticed it attain 38 after 5 over and 89 on the mid-point of its innings.
Philippe, who made 2 on debut in Christchurch, adopted his 45 in Dunedin with one other spectacular innings of 43 from 27 balls.
Maxwell took the tempo from new heights, utilizing a powerful array of pictures each orthodox and unorthodox. He used ramp pictures to benefit from vacant third man or just muscled the ball over the massive boundaries at Wellington’s regional stadium the place the match was performed with out spectators.
Maxwell mentioned he struggled at first to get the tempo of the pitch and took solely three runs _ all singles _ from the primary seven balls he confronted earlier than hitting his first boundary. From then on, boundaries got here as a torrent, notably within the seventeenth over when he took the lengthy deal with to Neesham and went from 30 to 58.
His innings was stuffed with improvisation and he even modified fingers at one level.
“I wasn’t doing much good right-handed so I thought I’d try left-handed,” he mentioned.
Maxwell was out to the final ball of the 18th over with Australia 194-4 and it didn’t absolutely capitalize, including solely 14 runs from the final two overs.