Trans-Tasman Trophy, 1st T20I: Australia vs New Zealand - Things which went wrong for the Kiwis

Australia cruised to a seven-wicket win (D/L Method) in the Trans-Tasman Twenty20 Trophy tri-series opener against New Zealand at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday.

David Warner, Australia's stand-in captain for this series, won the toss and opted to bowl against the Black Caps, who struggled from the start and never really settled down after their top-order collapse.

In 20 overs, New Zealand could only manage 117/9 with Colin de Grandhomme top-scoring with 38.

Australian bowlers were brilliant on the day as Andrew Tye picked up 4/23 while Billy Stanlake ended with 3/15.

The second match of the tri-series will be played between Australia and England at Hobart on Wednesday, February 7.

Now let us have a look at the things which went wrong for New Zealand.

#1 Failure in all the departments

The loss in Sydney was the third consecutive T20I loss for New Zealand after they surrendered their World No.1 ranking by losing a three-match series against Pakistan 2-1 at home last month.

It was a failure in all the departments for the Kiwis as they struggled with both bat and ball in the series opener.

The visitors suffered a major batting collapse and managed to post just 117 runs in 20 overs with Colin de Grandhomme being the highest scorer with 38.

Although it was a small total to defend, Australian batsmen Glenn Maxwell and Chris Lynn showed no mercy to New Zealand bowlers as they reached their revised target of 95 with 21 balls remaining.

#2 Not able to convert starts

After Billy Stanlake strangulated New Zealand's top-order, Ross Taylor and Tom Blundell managed to steady the ship for a while but they could not last long enough as Adam Zampa and Aston Agar got rid of them.

Colin de Grandhomme showed some resistance as he launched two massive sixes off the leg-spin of Zampa and he finished unbeaten on 38 at the end.

Andrew Tye finished with figures of 4-23, as he cleaned up New Zealand's tail and kept the number two side in ICC T20I rankings to less than a run a ball in an innings for the first time since 2012.

Surprisingly, the Black Caps managed to hit just four sixes in their entire innings.

#3 Top-order collapse

Australian bowlers proved too aggressive and demolishing for New Zealand line-up as they blew away the visitors' top-order reducing them to 16/3 inside the first 4 overs.

The pick of Australia's attack was Adelaide Strikers seamer, Billy Stanlake, whose fierce pace and accuracy rattled Kiwis' top-order with three wickets in the space of his first eight deliveries.

Two of those three wickets came in the space of his first two deliveries as he removed Colin Munro and debutant Alex Carey on consecutive deliveries but he narrowly missed his hat-trick.

Soon Stanlake claimed his third victim in the form of Tom Bruce and New Zealand were left shell-shocked at 3 for 16.

#4 Not able to contain Australian batsmen

After the rain intervened the target was revised from 117 in 20 overs to 95 in 15. New Zealand pacers Tim Southee and Trent Boult removed Australian openers David Warner and D'Arcy Short early.

As the Kiwi bowlers were not defending a big total, they were expected to strike at regular intervals and not let Australian batsmen settle in.

None of the visitor's bowlers could emulate the performance of their Australian counterparts as the home team lost just 3 wickets en route to their target.

Chris Lynn (44) and Glenn Maxwell (40*) comfortably chased down the revised total in 11.3 overs as Australia beat New Zealand by 7 wickets (D/L Method) with 21 balls remaining.