By 
Australia began their Twenty20 World Cup defence with a crushing 89-run loss to New Zealand on Saturday, avenging their loss to Aaron Finch’s men in last year’s final.
Devon Conway carried his bat with a breathtaking unbroken 92 to help New Zealand smash 200-3 before being skittled for 111 in the 18th over in the opening Super 12 contest.
Conway batted brilliantly, raising his T20I average against Australia to 71 from six innings, and, like the unbeaten 99 he scored against them in a T20 in Christchurch last year, he fell just short of a maiden century, owing primarily to Jimmy Neesham’s (26 off 13) late cameo.
The ability of Australia’s allrounders with the ball had received a lot of attention in the lead-up to this event, but it was their frontliners who were in the firing line.
Each of the three quicks conceded a boundary on their first or second ball, as the dependable pace combination of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, and Pat Cummins were unable to prevent the Kiwi openers from blazing 56 off the first four overs.
The Australians were skittled for 111 in pursuit of New Zealand’s 3-200 in a fizzer of a tournament opener on Saturday evening, their second-largest defeat (by runs) and poorest ever at home.
The reigning champions were never able to recover from the blistering start set by Kiwi openers Finn Allen (42 off 16) and Devon Conway (92 from 58 balls), who destroyed their feared bowling attack.
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