After the 2nd ODI was abandoned due to rain, Australia had to win this match to level the series and share the spoils at the end of the match but New Zealand, who were clearly the more dominant team with the bat and the ball, managed to come out on top and win the series 2-0 and also win the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy in the process.
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New Zealand won the toss and opted to bat first and with Martin Guptill still out injured, Dean Brownlie (63, 78b, 7x4) took his place in the starting 11 and he certainly made the most of his opportunity and while Tom Latham (0, 8b) once again failed to put up an impressive score, the Kiwis still put up a strong total that proved to be too much for Australia.
Kane Williamson (37, 42b, 5x4) put in a decent knock but the star of New Zealand's batting was no doubt Ross Taylor (107, 101b, 13x4) as his superb innings was crucial for New Zealand as the batsmen after him in Neil Broom (8, 12b), Colin Munro (3, 9b) and James Neesham (1, 7b) failed to get going with the bat.
Towards the end, Mitchell Santner (38, 34b, 3x4, 2x6) and Tim Southee (10, 8b, 1x6) scored enough as they set a formidable total of 281 for Australia to chase.
James Faulkner and Mitchell Starc were the top bowlers for Australia as they picked up 3 wickets each but Faulkner got the all important wickets of Brownlie and Taylor who looked unstoppable with the bat at one point. Josh Hazlewood picked up the wickets of Colin Munro and James Neesham while Pat Cummins got the New Zealand skipper Williamson out.
Australia started their batting innings well as Aaron Finch (56, 64b, 5x4, 2x6) and Shaun Marsh (22, 22b, 4x4) opened the innings for them but the Australian batting order once again collapsed as Peter Handscomb, Glenn Maxwell and James Faulkner all got out for a duck. Travis Head (53, 72b, 5x4) and Marcus Stoinis (42, 48b, 4x4, 1x6) did revive Australia's innings but after their dismissals, Australia's lower-order batsmen could not keep up the pressure on the Kiwis bowlers.
Towards the end, Cummins (27, 35b, 1x4, 2x6) and Starc (29, 23b, 2x4, 2x6) did manage to get some runs on the board but it was not enough as Australia were all out for 257.
While Ross Taylor was the star with the bat for New Zealand, Trent Boult stole the show with the ball as he picked up 6 wickets including those of Head and Cummins who looked dangerous once they had settled in at the crease.
Mitchell Santner picked up two wickets and Captain Williamson picked up a wicket and it was an important one of Aaron Finch.
Score
New Zealand: 281/9 in 50 overs
Australia: 257 all out in 47 overs
New Zealand won by 24 runs
Bowling
Australia: Starc 10-1-63-3, Hazlewood 10-0-44-2, Stoinis 4-0-22-0, Cummins 10-0-47-1, Zampa 7-0-41-0, Faulkner 9-0-59-3
New Zealand: Southee 8-0-39-0, Boult 10-1-33-6, Ferguson 9-1-62-0, Neesham 3-0-17-0, Santner 10-0-50-2, Williamson 7-0-44-1
Fall of wickets
New Zealand: 1-6 Latham (2.6 overs), 2-76 Williamson (14.5 overs), 3-176 Brownlie (31.5 overs), 4-198 Broom (35.6 overs), 5-205 Munro (38.4 overs), 6-209 Neesham (40.2 overs), 7-246 Taylor (46.5 overs), 8-265 Southee (49.1 overs), 9-265 Ferguson (49.2 overs)
Australia: 1-44 Marsh (7.2 overs), 2-44 Handscomb (7.4 overs), 3-119 Finch (20.6 overs), 4-120 Maxwell (21.6 overs), 5-173 Head (32.2 overs), 6-174 Faulkner (32.6 overs), 7-198 Stoinis (39.1 overs), 8-249 Cummins (44.4 overs), 9-253 Zampa (46.1 overs), 10-257 Hazlewood (46.6 overs)
