Australia vs New Zealand

 

 

Series: ICC Mens T20 World Cup 2022
Venue: Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
Date & Time: Oct 22, 06:00 PM LOCAL

 

Around half hour into their training session in Sydney, the Kiwis were sent scampering to the indoor nets at the SCG. The forecast rain had arrived. Kane Williamson was first in followed closely by some of the other top-order batters. It’s the eve of the Super 12 of the T20 World Cup and everywhere you look, there are heads turning towards the heavens. Some with despair, some with worry, and most with hope.

 

 

Hope that the much-awaited second stage, the main draw, of this tournament doesn’t get off to a wet and dreary start after the very successful completion of the opening round. Despite continued threats of rain in both Geelong and Hobart, we ended up getting all 12 games completed with some fascinating finishes and results.

Ironically though, the forecasts only seem grim at the moment for the first two high-profile contests in this stage, starting with the defending champions’ clash against the team they beat to win the trophy last year, New Zealand.

 

 

All around you though, there was a definite urgency in the air and you could sense that business was just picking up, whether it was in terms of purely the number of people present or how busy they all seemed. From posters and marquees, there were installations of various sizes being made all around the ground and its periphery.

 

 

Williamson would have spent nearly 45 minutes batting away in the indoor nets. And once the rain receded, the rest of the batters wasted no time in getting into the net, even if it meant helping the groundstaff clear the area quicker. Martin Guptill was the one who spent the most time in there while Trent Boult and Tim Southee took the day off from the optional training session. The trio along with captain Williamson are after all the only members of the current team to have ever experienced winning a match in any format on Australian soil. That was of course 11 years ago on a windy night in Hobart, in a famous Test.