Cricket: Black Caps dominate Australia to seal Twenty20 series victory

Mark Chapman celebrates his first international wicket after dismissing Glenn Maxwell. Photo / Photosport

The smile that creased Martin Guptill's face was worth the price of admission, the monthly subscription fee or the rude interruption to your Sunday long lunch – or whatever currency you choose.

After slog-sweeping Australia's high-class leggie Adam Zampa he held the pose, lifting his head in time to watch the ball sail onto the roof of the Cake Tin, the third time he's achieved the feat.

They're the sort of shots you recall long after the matches are forgotten – and in reality a bilateral Twenty20 series between two old rivals is not going to feature in many future folk songs.

But it meant something more than it might have because the Black Caps, for all their achievements of late, have had a mental block when it comes to their transtasman neighbours.

Not this time though, the seven-wicket thrashing achieved with a whopping 27 balls remaining was an exclamation mark on a series affected but not ruined by lockdown. It also prevented the inevitable "choke" headlines after New Zealand let a 2-0 lead slip in the five-match series with some passive cricket in games three and four.

"It's been an incredibly hard-fought series with momentum shifts throughout," said Kane Williamson. "Playing three games on this surface and trying to get a read on it was a real challenge."

There would have been demons in the dressing room following Friday night's ill-conceived chase. How could there not be? Same ground, same strip, same attack.

"It's about the cricket we want to play," Williamson continued. "We know how strong the Australian side is… In some ways we got exposed on that surface and they adapted far quicker than us in the last match so it was great we could show some signs of improvement on a surface like that."

New Zealand opted to change things up by inserting Devon Conway into the top of the order to replace Tim Seifert, the most discombobulated of the home batsman this series.

While it might have been a horses-for-courses decision, it appeals as a more sustainable partnership in the long term. There's the left-right element, plus it pairs Conway's consistency and ability square of the wicket with Guptill's mercurial power hitting straight down the ground.

Seifert, in turn, could benefit from the match dictating how he plays, rather than asking him to set the tone, a task that appeared to stifle rather than liberate his talent.

The move worked, with the 50 partnership coming in the sixth over, the 100 in the 12th. It featured some heads-up stroke play from Conway (36 off 28) but more importantly a veteran's sense of what his role was at various stages of the partnership.

Guptill rode his luck early but he will feel entitled to do that having suffered from an acute lack of that commodity for most of the summer. Once he got a couple out of the screws there was nothing fortunate about his batting, particularly in that Zampa over where his nudge onto the roof was one of three long sixes.

"The other night we took a backward step but today we didn't want to back down from the fight," man-of-the-match Guptill said. "Devon had a really nice start, then I caught up and pushed on. The best part about it was we got a win."

Martin Guptill top-scored for the Black Caps. Photo / Photosport

They were separated at 106 but the strength of the start meant there were only minor tremors when Williamson was adjudged LBW to the rapid Riley Meredith first ball.

Guptill went next, top-edging on 71 (46 balls), with just 19 needed at about three an over.

By that stage the ebullient Glenn Phillips was in his stride. He slaps as often as he strokes the ball but he does so really hard. One such shot nearly drilled Meredith in his follow through, while another ended the game with a six over long-on.

The comprehensive win was set up by a disciplined and well-planned bowling effort.

This match started like many of the others: with Tim Southee rapping Aaron Finch on the pads and umpire Chris Gaffaney showing something close to contempt for the bowler's entreaties.

The umpire did get to raise his finger two overs later when Trent Boult trapped Josh Philippe dead in front. Philippe (two) had swapped places with Matthew Wade in the order – the move only worked for one of them.

Wade loves to play the archetypal Aussie hardman but looks much more effective when he's playing the ball not the man. His innings (44 off 29) was a delight. On a holding wicket, everything seemed to find the middle of his bat, including the flick off his pads that carried to Guptill in the outfield when he seemed set to take Australia through to a big score.

He fell to Boult, who was a rare seam-up presence in the spin-heavy attack.

Regulars Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi were complemented by Mark Chapman and Phillips, who delivered one of the more random overs in professional cricket history.

Phillips is a versatile player. He can open, bat down the order, take the big gloves as a wicketkeeper or buzz around the outfield like a Labrador puppy let off a leash.

He bowls orthodox spin, too. Kind of. His second over was the sort of thing you might expect to see at Saturday morning cricket, often followed by a slightly embarrassed parent comforting a tearful child on the boundary.

There were balls that barely landed on the mown strip and a waist-high full-bunger that should have been hit to the Hutt Valley.

Mind you, Phillips could be forgiven for feeling ripped off after Sodhi started the 18th over with two full tosses that Marcus Stoinis and Ashton Agar contrived to hit into the hands of Guptill.

That over was the 12th and final over of spin in the innings, a New Zealand record.

Sodhi's 3-24 took him to 13 wickets for the series, easily ahead of Agar's eight, and that was recognised in his player of the series award.

"It's always nice to get wickets but the main thing is to build pressure and I was really grateful that the guys at the other end – like Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Mitchell Santner – created a lot of pressure," Sodhi said.

Australia's innings was muted.

"We weren't aggressive enough with the bat, myself [included]," Finch said. "We led them dictate slightly. We didn't get enough runs. We kept losing wickets at regular intervals."

It was another gettable target. This time it was got.