New Zealand clinch Super Over victory

New Zealand leveled the two match series at 1-1 with a Super Over victory at Christchurch after scores were tied at the end of the second innings.

New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat first on a belter. They got off to a flier as Brendon McCullum powered them to 62 in the Quick start overs, having lost the wicket of Peter Ingram early. He continued to dominate the Australia bowlers despite Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor and James Franklin losing their wickets in quick succession. Gareth Hopkins offered him good support in the middle of the innings and the duo added 68 runs off just 30 balls for the fifth wicket. McCullum went on to score an unbeaten century, batting with his brother in the Extreme Performance overs. He became only the second batmsen to achieve the feat in T20 Internationals. The McCullum brothers added 50 runs off just 20 balls for the seventh wicket as New Zealand finished with a massive 214 at the end of their 20 overs.

Australia got off to a steady start in their run chase with Brad Haddin leading their charge. They put up 53 runs on the board at the end of the Power Play with David Warner back in the hut. Michael Clarke supported Haddin well and they did extremely well to keep abreast with the required rate over the next six overs. They added 73 runs for the second wicket before Haddin was out. David Hussey played a handy knock but did not last long and it was upto Cameron White to help the Aussies stay in the match. White turned out to be the perfect player in the situation as he smashed the Kiwi bowlers all round the park. His partnership with Clarke got Australia back into the contest as reflected on the Castrol Index. They stayed within touching distance by dominating the Extreme Performance overs and it was down to the last over. It looked like they would get over the line but Tim Southee bowled an excellent final over to push the match into extra time.

Australia managed only six off their Super Over, thanks to a brilliant effort from Tim Southee, who gave nothing away and produced six deliveries in the right areas. New Zealand won easily in the end by scoring nine off four balls as the Australians missed a couple of run out opportunities and Shaun Tait succumbed to the Extreme pressure situation.

Brendon McCullum was adjudged Man of the Match for his unbeaten 116 off just 56 balls with a Batting Momentum of 240.