Australia won their maiden T20 World Cup title as they defeated New Zealand in the final by 8 wickets.
Chasing a target of 173, Australia won the game with 7 balls to spare, thanks to half-centuries from Mitchell Marsh and David Warner.
Australia started well with Warner hitting a couple of boundaries. However, Aaron Finch’s struggles at the top of the order continued as Trent Boult sent him packing for just 5.
Mitchell Marsh came out to bat at the fall of Finch’s wicket and immediately hit the ground running, smashing a six and back-to-back fours off the first three balls he faced. The Australian all-rounder didn’t look back after that and proceeded to pound the New Zealand bowling lineup into submission.
If the Marsh barrage wasn’t enough, New Zealand bowlers had to also contend with an in-form Warner, who too found the boundary at will.
Warner was the first to score his half-century, whacking a six off James Neesham to reach the landmark. Warner and Marsh added 92 runs off just 59 balls to put Australia in complete control in the chase.
Boult returned to give New Zealand a much-needed breakthrough, removing the dangerous Warner for 53 but there was no stopping Marsh.
The lanky Australian all-rounder continued to torment the New Zealand bowlers, also scoring a half-century. He was joined by Glenn Maxwell, who took a couple of deliveries to get going, before teeing off as well.
Marsh and Maxwell kept finding the boundaries as New Zealand just couldn’t find a way to keep the Australian batters quiet.
In the end, Maxwell finished things off with a reverse ramp to the third man to send the team into ecstasy.
Earlier, Kane Williamson smashed a brilliant 48-ball 85 as New Zealand managed to reach a total of 172/4 from their quota of 20 overs. For Australia, Josh Hazlewood was the pick of the bowlers with 3 for 16 while Adam Zampa returned figures of 1/26.
Initially, Australia won the toss and skipper Aaron Finch elected to bowl against New Zealand in the T20 World Cup final at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday. Both teams finished second in their groups behind table-toppers England and Pakistan. New Zealand edged England in the first semi-final at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi before Australia defeated an in-form Pakistan team in the second semi-final in Dubai.
Important Stats:
- Out of the seven men’s T20 World Cup finals, six were won by the team winning the toss, including Australia. In Dubai, the venue of the 2021 final, all the ten matches in the tournament played under the lights were won by the teams batting second, including nine of them by the teams winning the toss.
- Target chased down by Australia is the second-highest successful chase in a men’s T20I final. Pakistan’s 184-run chase against Australia in the 2018 tri-series final in Harare remains the highest. Before the Australia-New Zealand final, only one team crossed the 160-run mark in the men’s T20 World Cup finals – 161 for 6 by West Indies in 2016 against England while chasing 156 to win.
- Number of balls Mitchell Marsh needed for his fifty, the fastest in a men’s T20 World Cup final, pushing Kane Williamson’s fifty off 32 balls during New Zealand’s innings to second. The fastest fifty in the finals of the previous six editions came off 33 balls by Kumar Sangakkara in 2014 and Joe Root in 2016.
- Williamson’s score against Australia. No player has scored more than him in a men’s T20 World Cup final. Marlon Samuels also had an unbeaten 85 during West Indies’ successful chase against England in 2016.
- Runs scored by Williamson off Mitchell Starc, the most by a batter off Starc in any T20 game. The previous most was 32 runs off 11 balls by Virat Kohli in a 2011 Champions League T20 game. Williamson struck seven fours and a six off Starc in the 12 balls he faced. No bowler has hit more boundaries off a bowler in a men’s T20 World Cup game.
- David Warner’s run-tally in this tournament, which is the most for Australia in an edition of men’s T20 World Cup. Warner surpassed Matthew Hayden’s 265 runs during the inaugural 2007 edition. Kevin Pietersen (England, 2010) and Warner (Australia, 2021) are the only players to win the Player-of-the-Tournament award at the men’s T20 World Cup from a title-winning side.
- Runs scored by Marsh in T20Is in 2021, the third-most by any player behind Mohammad Rizwan (1033) and Babar Azam (826). Marsh’s total runs this year are also the highest in men’s T20Is in a calendar year for Australia.
- Runs conceded by Starc in his four overs, the second-most by a bowler in a men’s T20I for Australia. Andrew Tye ended up conceding 64 runs against New Zealand in 2018. Starc is one of the five bowlers to concede 60 or more runs in a men’s T20 World Cup match but the first to do so in a final.
