Australia vs New Zealand 2016, 2nd ODI: 5 talking points

#3 Australia drop highest ODI wicket taker of the year

Faulkner took a beating

Australia started the game by dropping Adam Zampa, who is the highest wicket-taker in 2016 with 30 wickets in 19 games at an average of 27.8. The numbers did not seem to catch the eye of Australian coach and selectors, who decided to give Faulkner a game ahead of Zampa.

Faulkner did not get to bat and was expensive with the ball, giving 69 runs in his 8 overs but he did pick up the wicket of Colin Munro. While Faulkner possibly deserved a game, it was harsh to drop Zampa, who has been pretty impressive with the ball this year in ODIs and T20s.

Interestingly, Australia had also dropped Hastings for this series, who was, before the start of this series, the highest wicket taker in the year and still remains second to Zampa with 29 wickets this year.