Williamson smashes 85 off 48, but to no avail, as Marsh and Warner power the Aussies to the trophy!
Australia 173 for 2 (Marsh 77*, Warner 53, Boult 2-18) beat New Zealand 172 for 4 (Williamson 85, Hazlewood 3-16) by eight wickets
After a tournament of low scores, due to tricky, two-paced pitches, the final came as close to pure T20 as anything seen over these past few weeks in the UAE. A new record for the fastest fifty in a T20 World Cup final was established and, in no time, smashed.
New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson ended up on the losing side and Australia’s Mitchell Marsh among the winners, but the difference was what happened around them.
Williamson scored 85 off 48 balls, and the rest of New Zealand’s batting line-up limped to 78 off 73 between them, as they posted a total of 172 for 4.
In reply, Marsh finished on an unbeaten 77 off 50. Australia’s other batters combined to make 86 off 63. This included a superb half-century from David Warner, who in this tournament has returned to his best as a T20 opener.
Glenn Maxwell also played a brisk cameo and it was him who had the honour of playing the winning shot: a reverse-scoop past short third man off Tim Southee.
Australia won by eight wickets, with seven balls to spare, and for the first time ever, they were crowned T20 world champions!
Australia weren’t among the favourites when this tournament began, but with powerful hitters like Warner, Aaron Finch, Marsh, Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis, it’s clear that they should never have been underestimated.
The bowlers played their part too – not least Josh Hazlewood, whose into-the-pitch slower balls enabled him to return figures of 4-0-16-3.
However, Australia’s victory was primarily a triumph of T20’s most crucial skill: boundary hitting!
