Australia will have to pull off the highest-ever run chase in a T20 final if they want to take home the world cup. Kane Williamson’s 48-ball 85 led New Zealand to a respectable total of 172/4, the highest total yet in a T20 World Cup final.
Put into bat, New Zealand struggled in the first 10 overs with Martin Guptill's painful 28 off 35 balls slowing the proceedings. But in the last 10 overs alone , New Zealand scored an astounding 115 runs.
A single dropped catch could have changed the game: When Williamson was just at 21 runs, Josh Hazlewood dropped a catch that could have cost the black caps their captain. For Mitchell Starc, whose delivery it was, the pain was about to get worse. He conceded 60 in his four overs, with 22 runs in a single over where the NZ captain hit five boundaries. Despite dropping an important catch, Hazlewood's 3/16 in 4 was respectable. In the 17th over, Hazlewood finally dispatched Williamson, who tried to hit him to the bleachers but ended up finding Steve Smith instead.
