Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa run riot with the ball as Australia level T20I series

New Zealand received a 50-run drubbing at the hands of Australia in the 4th T20I at the Westpac Stadium on Friday. The Trans-Tasman rivals will go head-to-head in a winner-takes-all encounter on Sunday at the same venue. 

Earlier in the evening, Australia captain Aaron Finch called right at the toss and opted to bat first. The Aussie batsmen found it hard to come to terms with the sluggish surface. But the skipper stayed put at the crease till the last over, crafting an unbeaten 77 to help the visitors go past the competitive 150-run mark. Ish Sodhi was the standout bowler, returning with figures of three for 32 from his four-over spell. 

Chasing 157, the Kiwis got off to a slow start. The pair of Martin Guptil and Tim Seifert faced some tough questions with the tight and nagging lines bowled by the Australian bowlers. Runs seemed hard to come by. Ashton Agar, who claimed his second five-wicket haul in the previous match, was brought into the attack quiet early in the innings. The move to get the spinners early worked as Guptil holed out to Glenn Maxwell at long-off in the fifth over. Tim Seifert, who was just looking to cut loose, chopped one onto his stumps. His dismissal brought the Kiwi captain Kane Williamson to the middle. Glenn Maxwell, introduced into the attack after the powerplay, claimed the prize scalp of the New Zealand skipper. Not often do we see Williamson inducing a false shot. But the mixture of multiplying dot balls and creeping asking rate forced him to make the mistake. 

Thereafter, a procession of wickets followed as Glenn Phillips, Jimmy Neesham, and Mitchell Santner fell cheaply. The hosts never really recovered from the initial hiccups as they were bundled out for a paltry 106. The spin trio - Agar,  Zampa and Maxwell - strangled the batsmen and picked up two wickets apiece. Kane Richardson was the pick of the bowlers, registering three wickets.

Finch, who was named the Man of the Match, applauded the collective bowling performance from his bowlers. "I thought we adapted really well, it was a really polished performance with the ball," he said in the post-match presentation.

3⃣ of our Royal Challengers combined to destroy the New Zealand batting with combined figures of 9⃣.5⃣-0⃣-5⃣7⃣-7⃣ in the 4⃣th #NZvAUS T20I ?#PlayBold #WeAreChallengers pic.twitter.com/7vYI6MXzZb

— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) March 5, 2021

With the series level at 2-2, an action-packed contest awaits at the Westpac Stadium on Sunday.