The cover drive is aesthetically one of the most pleasing strokes in cricket. The way the batsman leans into the stroke and then allows the hands to hit through the line of the ball is almost poetry in motion. Not if you are Colin Munro!
The burly left-hander from New Zealand is not known for pretty strokes, as he relies more on power rather than placement. He is one of the most dangerous players in the New Zealand squad. However, when Munro was facing up to Pat Cummins and decided to launch a cover drive, his bat snapped as the ball made contact. The lower half of the bat went flying away to point and the left-hander was left with just the handle and a minor chunk of the blade.
This was certainly hilarious in an otherwise keenly contested affair. Australia have been well on top of their game right throughout the game after their captain led the way with an impressive 157-ball 164 which helped the hosts post a formidable score of 324 in their allotted 50 overs.
The New Zealand chase was always going to be tricky, and they did not help their own cause by losing wickets at regular intervals. Only Martin Guptill held fort and played a beautiful innings en route his 11th century in ODIs. However, the Kiwi chase received a major jolt when Guptill pulled a rank long hop from Adam Zampa straight to Glenn Maxwell at short mid-wicket. His dismissal slowed down the scoring rate, and despite the presence of Colin Munro the bridge looked a bit too far to cross.
Munro was eventually dismissed for 49, as we was deceived by a slower ball by Pat Cummins.
Earlier in the day, Australian captain Steven Smith decided to own the game as he dug in and scored a superb century. He was not done just yet, as he hogged all the limelight in the field too and was safe as churches all over the field. He gobbled a tricky catch of Kane Williamson at first slip and then pulled off an absolute screamer at backward point to send BJ Watling packing. Australia closed out the tail and won the match by a comfortable margin of 68 runs.
A certain statement of intent by the Australian captain and by the Australian team after they have been in midst of a lot crisis over the past few months. New Zealand, however, showed a lot of fight and hence this 3-match series promises to be an intriguing affair.
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