New Zealand seal Chappell-Hadlee Trophy in McCullum's final ODI

The third match of the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy was played at the Seddon Park, Hamilton. Both the sides were tied with one win each in the three-match series going into the decider.

After being whitewashed by India and losing the first match comprehensively to the home side, Australia made a spirited comeback in the second match. The Hamilton crowd was emotional as they bid adieu to their captain Brendon McCullum who was playing his last ODI.

New Zealand won the match by 55 runs to clinched the series 2-1 in their favor.

McCullum, Guptill propel NZ to 246

Australian captain Steven Smith won the toss and decided to bowl first. The Kiwis opened their innings with Martin Guptill and McCullum. The openers gave New Zealand a good start as McCullum played a super aggressive knock of 47 off just 27 balls, hitting three sixes and six fours in the process.

Guptill also made his way to a half-century but wasn’t able to convert it into a big score. All-rounder Grant Elliot also played a cautious innings of 50 after a sudden collapse in the middle-order.

Corey Anderson supported Elliott well and contributed 27 valuable runs to his team’s account. New Zealand were bowled out by the Australian bowlers for 246 runs in 45.3 overs.

It was a much-improved bowling performance from the Australian bowlers. Mitchell Marsh was the best of the bowlers as he picked up three important wickets including the all important wicket of McCullum. Other pacers Josh Hazlewood, John Hastings and Scott Boland also picked up two wickets each.

Spinner Adam Zampa, who was given a chance by the Australian selectors, impressed everyone with his performance in the match. Zampa was the most economical of the Australian bowlers and also chipped in with a wicket.

Bowlers’ superlative performance

In reply, Australia did not get off to a good start as they lost their in-form opener, David Warner, early. Another in-form batsman, Usman Khawaja, who got his opportunity due to an injury to Aaron Finch made a good start but wasn’t able to convert it into a big score as he got out on 44.

The Australian middle-order also did not add much to the team’s account as captain Steven Smith got out for 21 and Glenn Maxwell went to the dressing room without scoring. George Bailey formed a partnership with Mitchell Marsh and both were looking good but then both got out in quick successions.

Bailey got out for 33 and Marsh went after scoring 41 runs. Australia were bowled out for 191 in 43.4 overs.

It was a good bowling performance from the New Zealand bowlers as they dominated the Australian batsmen right through the innings. Matt Henry picked up three important wickets to guide his side to a famous series victory.

Young spinner Ish Sodhi also impressed in the match as he picked up two wickets and bowled with persistence. All-rounder Corey Anderson also picked up two wickets.

Adam Milne and Doug Bracewell chipped in with one wicket apiece.

Brief Scores: New Zealand 246 all out (Guptill 59, Elliott 50; Marsh 3/34, Hastings 2/42) beat Australia (toss) 191 all out (Khawaja 44, Marsh 41; Henry 3/60, Anderson 2/16, Sodhi 2/31) by 55 runs.