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Wellington – Captain Mitchell Santner vowed on Tuesday that his “underdogs” New Zealand would put up a “fight” in their three-match home Twenty20 series against powerhouse Australia.
With June’s World Cup looming, the rivals will meet in front of a sell-out crowd in Wellington on Wednesday, followed by games in Auckland on Friday and Sunday.
New Zealand triumphed in their last meeting in the shortest format by 89 runs in October 2022 in Sydney at the World Cup, but Australia have since lifted the 50-over World Cup and are winning the T20 series 2-1 over the West. Indies.
“We’re probably the underdog, but we’re used to that label and we don’t think too much about it,” Santner told reporters.
“It’s always a pretty cool time when the Aussies come. You always want to go up against the best in the world and they’re definitely up there.”
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The Black Caps and Australia last met in a T20 series three years ago when hosts New Zealand won 3-2. “It’s weird,” Santner said. “We probably don’t play Australia as much as we probably should, but a trans-Tasman clash is always good fun.”
“When I look at their team at the moment, it’s a very, very good team with all the bases covered,” the all-rounder added. “We have to do our thing, we have plans in place.
The tourists, captained by Mitchell Marsh, are in full force. David Warner, who recently retired from Test cricket, is 54 runs to overtake former captain Aaron Finch as Australia’s all-time leading run-scorer in men’s T20s.
New Zealand rested world batsman Kane Williamson but added veteran seamer Trent Boult to the attack.
“We know how good they are going to be and how explosive their team is,” Santner said of the Australians. “So for us it’s just about staying inside as long as we can and see what happens.
“We want to have a good game in this series and then we can look forward to it.” The T20 series is followed by two Tests.
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