Australia vs New Zealand: Captains talk over spider-cam in post-match presentation in Sydney

Not often does one see cricketing arrangements falling short of perfection in Australia, one of the frontline countries that plays the game. But on Friday, the iconic Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) saw something innovative after the first ODI between Australia and New Zealand ended with a thumping win for the hosts. It was because there was no presenter after the match finished, the match presentation was done on the spider cam!

Former Australia international Brendon Julian was seen speaking to home captain Aaron Finch from a distance of 100 metres using the big camera. Finch (60), who gave his team a solid opening platform along with David Warner (67), said he thought 250 was a good total to defend on the wicket.

“I thought 250 was a good total. Our bowlers bowled really well. The opening partnership was nice. We both had our challenges adjusting to the slowness of the wicket. You had to pick up the balls you wanted to go through with,” he said.

Aaron Finch’s Australia defends 250-plus total

Australia made 258 for 7 after Finch won the toss and elected to bat and then bowled out the Kiwis for 187 in 41 overs. Opener Martin Guptill made the highest for New Zealand (40) but they Kiwis never looked comfortable in the chase. Mitchell Marsh was picked as the man of the match for scoring 27 runs and taking three wickets for 29 runs. Pat Cummins also took three for 25.

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson, who got out to a stunning wrong’un from leg-spinner Adam Zampa, said the wicket was tough to chase down the target. He lauded Australia’s opening partnership as well as the bowling performance.

“With their top-class bowling, they were always going to make it challenging. For us, it was about small margins. We have to bowl better lines. It looked like a slow surface, and might offer help for the spinners, which our spinners did very well.” Williamson said.

It was a good turnaround for Australia after their 1-2 and 0-3 losses to India and South Africa, recently. New Zealand, on the other hand, demolished India 0-3 in an ODI series but failed to maintain the same show in the first match against the Kangaroos. They will now have to win the second match, also scheduled at the same venue on Sunday, to stay alive in the series.