Captain Mitchell Santner vowed Tuesday that his “underdogs” New Zealand will put up a “fight” of their three-match Twenty20 residence sequence towards a full-strength Australia.
With the World Cup looming in June, the rivals will meet in entrance of a sell-out crowd in Wellington on Wednesday, adopted by video games in Auckland on Friday and Sunday.
New Zealand triumphed of their final assembly within the shortest format, by 89 runs in October 2022 in Sydney on the World Cup, however Australia have since lifted the 50-over World Cup and are coming off a 2-1 T20 sequence win over the West Indies.
“We’re probably underdogs but we are used to that tag and don’t think much of it,” Santner advised reporters.
“It’s always a pretty cool time when the Aussies come over. You always want to challenge yourself against the best in the world, and they’re up there for sure.”
The Black Caps and Australia final met in a T20 sequence three years in the past, with hosts New Zealand profitable 3-2.
“It’s special,” Santner mentioned. “We probably don’t play Australia as much as we probably should, but the trans-Tasman clash is always good fun.”
“Looking at their squad at the moment, they’re a very, very good team with all bases covered,” added the all-rounder.
“We’ve just got to do our thing, we’ve got our plans in place.”
The vacationers, captained by Mitchell Marsh, are at full energy.
David Warner, who just lately retired from Test cricket, is 54 runs away from overtaking former captain Aaron Finch as Australia’s all-time main scorer in males’s T20s.
New Zealand have rested world-class batsman Kane Williamson however added skilled seamer Trent Boult to their assault.
“We know how good they’re going to be and how explosive their team is,” Santner mentioned of the Australians.
“So for us, it’s just about staying in for as long as we can and see what happens.
“We want to put up a good fight this series, then we can look forward after that.”
The T20 sequence is adopted by two Tests.
Source web site: sportstar.thehindu.com
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