New Zealand vs Australia, 2nd T20I at Auckland, NZ v AUS, Feb 23 2024 - Ball by Ball Commentary

10.22pm That was comprehensive. Australia's bowling made it seem like this match was happening at the WACA. Not a ground so tiny and batting friendly that it is on occasion rubbished a bit. Eden Park, in addition to its 50m boundaries, also offers extra bounce and boy did those tall quicks made the most of it. Josh Hazlewood was pristine, bowling 17 dot balls in a 24-over spell, and that included a maiden. Even the captain Mitchell Marsh was able to keep hitting the deck and create problems, largely because of how well they held their line. When the ball keeps kicking up at you and you never get any room to free the arms, you feel trapped. NZ were trapped in this chase. Until next time, this is Deivarayan Muthu signing off on the behalf of Alex Malcolm. Take care and cheers.

Mitchell Marsh: "Great win for Australia. Our backs were against the wall. I thought we were 50 short. But the way our bowlers came out and performed was outstanding. A collective effort. It's one of those grounds were you get lured into the short boundaries. The wicket was good. Had steep bounce which we should be used to. One of our mantras as a batting unit is to keep taking the game on and trusting our skills. I was proud of the fact we did that. I think all of our teams have been backed into corners in the last 12 months and we've found a way to get out of them. Tonight was another great example of that."

Mitchell Santner: "We were pretty happy at halfway, especially after the start they got off to. Credit to the boys. To get wickets through the middle was key, it was the only way to slow them down really. Lockie showed his class again tonight. I thought Sears bowled extremely well. It was Gary [Stead's] decision [re batting at No.3]. It was unfortunate with Dev. But some good news, it's not broken. We'll see how he goes in a couple of days but obviously the Test matches coming up are pretty important as well. Wickets in the powerplay, they way they hit their hard lengths, playing those cross-bat shots were quite difficult. Maybe we could have soaked it up a bit longer."

Pat Cummins is the Player of the Match: Dunno how I got this, but I'll take it. Yeah, batting wise, some came off the edges and I guess I'll take it. I love it [not captaining] Just going off to the boundary and coming in to bowl. I love it. [Why are Australia's bowlers so good?] First of all tonight, the wicket helped, had a little bit in it. Everyone had a good night. [Wicket like the WACA?] That's right, it had a bit sideways.

Cricfan: "Unavailability for half the tournament is the only reason why Hazelwood isn't selected in the IPL! He is such a gem!"

Dave: "The coach in dugout shaking his head might be the answer to whether Conway is coming out to bat "

Krithika : "Had this been an ICC tournament, the margin of defeat/ victory would have got the NRR down / up . Just like the defeat NZ inflicted upon Australia in the WT20"

Devon Conway is in his full kit. Not a whole lot riding on this game for him to come out and influence it. But he has been cleared of a fracture. So maybe that allows him to go out and do his job, win or lose

Steven: "How would Moneyball assess relative IPL valuations of Cummins and Starc (AUD 3M each) versus Hazelwood (AUD 0)?"

Shubha: "Australia are doing Australian things in the Australian way. Amazed at their ability to keep winning across generations! That thirst for winning ! Just WoW!"

ShahSafeer: "Where's Jimmy Neesham disappeared? He holds really important place batting against good teams in this format. I hope he's in li"

Junaid Anwar: "Zampa the best white ball bowler of the world right now with hasaranga and rashid khan closely following."