Top 5 ODIs of 2017

#1 New Zealand vs Australia (Auckland)

From 67/6, Stoinis batted beautifully to take Australia so close.

Auckland is the place you want to be when there’s a cricket match going on. This venue has a special thing about – it has this unique tendency to produce thrilling encounters irrespective of who plays there.

It was the first ODI of the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy. Australia had regained it only about a couple of months back. Australia won the toss and elected to field first. They started very well as they reduced the hosts to 134/5 in 25 overs. However, vital contributions from Neil Broom (73), Jimmy Neesham (48) and a 5-ball 16 from pacer Trent Boult propelled the Kiwis to 286.

It was a competitive score as Australia were without a few key players (Steve Smith and David Warner). However, there was still a little bit of experience in the batting with Finch, Marsh and Maxwell having played for more than 3 years.

The Australian to-order failed miserably as they were reduced to 67/6 inside 20 overs. The game seemed done and dusted at that point. But Marcus Stoinis playing only his second game, batted beautifully with the tail to get Australia close. He forged an 80-run partnership with James Faulkner for the 7th wicket. After Faulkner’s dismissal, he started farming most of the strike and kept finding the fence consistently.

At 226/9, the game looked over from the outside but Stoinis didn’t give up. He didn’t allow the No. 11, Josh Hazlewood, to face even a single delivery and kept scoring from his end and took the Aussies very close. But with 6 runs to get, skipper Kane Williamson held his nerve and inflicted a superb run out to help New Zealand win a thriller.

Marcus Stoinis’ unbeaten 117-ball 146 went in vain as Australia conceded a 1-0 lead and later went on to lose the series 2-0.

Brief Scores: New Zealand 286 for 9 (Broom 73, Guptill 61, Stoinis 3-49, Cummins 2/67) beat Australia 280 (Stoinis 146*, Cummins 36, Santner 3-44, Ferguson 2/44, Boult 2/58)