On this day in 2018: Australia pull off a world-record T20I chase

T20 cricket has evolved very quickly since its inception. With a lot of T20 leagues being played across different countries, batsmen have learned new and innovative ways of scoring runs. This has resulted in even big scores being easily chased in the 20-over format. In the year 2018, on this day i.e 16 February, Australia pulled off a record T20I chase.

The historic game

This match was part of the T20I Tri-Series with the third team being England. The Kiwi captain Kane Williamson won the toss and decided to bat first in the match. Their openers Martin Guptill and Colin Munro gave the team an explosive start scoring 132 runs off first 10.4 overs. Guptill hit a glorious century smashing 105 runs off 54 balls. He hit 6 fours and 9 sixes in his superb knock.

On the other hand, Colin Munro too gave an important contribution to the team’s total scoring 76 runs off only 33 balls. He hit 6 fours and as many maximums in this explosive innings. New Zealand posted a gigantic total of 243/6 in 20 overs. Among Australian bowlers, Andrew Tye was most expensive giving away 64 runs in his 4 overs.

In response to this total, Australian Captain David Warner and D’Arcy Short gave the team a flying start. They added 121 runs in only 8.3 overs. This partnership gave the Kangaroo team a big push in their chase. Warner smacked 59 runs off 24 balls hitting 4 fours and 5 sixes, while Short scored 76 runs off 44 balls with the help of 8 fours and 3 sixes.

Australia’s 245/5 today is the highest successful chase in all Twenty20 cricket and not just Twenty20 internationals.
A total of 6800+ Twenty20 matches have been played till date.#NZvAUS

— Rajneesh Gupta (@rgcricket) February 16, 2018

In the end, Aaron Finch and Glenn Maxwell ensured that the team did not fall short of the World record chase. Finch hit 36 runs off 14 balls, while Maxwell scored 31 runs in 14 balls he played.

Australia chased the total with 7 balls to spare scripting history. Kiwi bowler Ben Wheeler gave away 64 runs in 3.1 overs he bowled. D’Arcy Short was adjudged as the player of the match for his match-winning knock.