What started out as a continuation of the humiliating series loss against the Proteas turned into a Steven Smith show as the Aussie skipper hammered a 164 to take help the Aussies to a much-needed 64 run win. New Zealand started the chase in equally pompous fashion as Martin Guptill and later Jimmy Neesham found some momentum going.
But once the centurion Guptill was dismissed the Kiwis chase faded off and they fell short by 68 runs. The match was highlighted by a see-saw period of play early in the game as both teams struggled to take control of the game.
Smith out all those to rest in emphatic fashion, plundering the bowlers around haplessly. He got good company from Travis Head, chosen ahead of Glenn Maxwell and Matthew Wade finished things off to take Australia to their first 300+ total since the series against India in early January.
Here are the talking points from the game.
#1 Lockie Ferguson's on and off debut
Ferguson, who has been touted as someone capable of hitting the coveted 150kmph mark, bowled a half-volley that was dismissed by Warner straight down the ground for four. However, the young Lockie sharpened his pace and line and caught Warner inside-edging onto his stumps to take his maiden wicket.
But Ferguson's day did not get better as Steven Smith and Travis Head used his extra pace to great effect. He also overstepped as many as four times and all of the free hits resulted in runs. Smith was particularly harsh on the debutant and flicked and cut him with ease.
His figures 9-0-73-1 was possibly a bit too harsh statistically as the youngster showed good pace and bowled decent lines early on. Once the attack was on, he leaked a few runs but the young gun is surely a decent weapon to have.
#4 Steven Smith's biggie and the unused DRS
Steven Smith had talked about getting the big hundreds in the lead up to the series and decided to show the way for his team in a near flawless display of batting. He recorded the highest score in Sydney surpassing de Villiers' 162 against the Windies in 2015.
However, he was let off twice in one over when on 13. First was a drop by Watling off Boult and the second one was when an inswinger from him caught Smith's pad while he was on the back foot. New Zealand opted to not review only to see that the ball would have hit the stumps and Smith would have been gone had they reviewed.
Smith went on to make use of his reprieve and dug into the Kiwis attack, smashing them to all parts of the ground till he was dismissed in the 48th over.
#3 Matthew Wade finds freedom
Wade has been on a comeback trail of late but was yet to find the middle of the willow. However, in this game, he had a fine platform built by Smith and Head. Wade made full use of that. He started by smashing Neesham over mid-wicket.
He then hit two more sixes in the same over, one over cow corner and the other one scooped over fine leg. His 22 ball 38 propelled Australia past 300 and into the 320s in style.
Before the game, there was talk of how Australia's batting was over dependant on Warner and Smith. They badly needed help from the lower middle order and Wade decided to shoulder the responsibility and play some shots.
#2 Mitchell Marsh does the first change bowler's job to perfection
Mitchell Marsh has been short of form and was recently dropped from the Test team during the series against the Proteas. Thus, he was down on confidence going into this game and wasn't expected to start in the 11.
Interestingly, he was picked and also sent into bat at no.5 and bowled ahead of Pat Cummins as the first change bowler. The confidence in him seemed to do Marsh a world of good as he set about bowling a nice spell, running in with good rhythm and hitting the deck hard.
He bowled a maiden over to Colin Munro when he and Guptill were on the charge. The maiden shifted the momentum Australia's way and Marsh continued to bowl well. He picked up Watling's wicket later and added one more to end a good day of bowling.
#1 Guptill hits first ton against Australia
Martin Guptill has always been New Zealand's trump card in ODI cricket. The opener has the second highest individual score in ODIs and is a big hitter. He has the ability to hit through the line on any pitch and against any pace and used that to fill effect today.
His feet were dancing and he stepped out more than once to the seamers. To his credit, he was least perturbed by the dismissal of Latham and Williamson and carried on with Neesham in terrific style. He showed a tendency to hit the ball on the up and play lofted shots in this innings, clearing the ropes as many as 6 times in his 102 ball 114.
While he was at the crease, New Zealand were still in with a chance to chase down the huge score. Once Guptill was dismissed after scoring his first ever hundred against Australia in ODIs, the Kiwis chase floundered.
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