In a significant development, Australia won the toss and chose to bowl first in the first T20I against New Zealand. Curiously, from the time of the toss itself, the players from Australia’s camp could be seen sporting black armbands at Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui.
Why did Australian players don the black armbands against NZ?
At toss, Australian captain Mitchell Marsh revealed that the visitors would bowl first in order to capitalise on the playing conditions. Meanwhile, the Aussie players had black bands wrapped round their arms, begging the question on why the same.
Alex Carey, one of Australia’s key players, had his father, Gordon Carey, lost last week to leukaemia (blood cancer). This unremitting loss led the Australian players to mourn in the first T20I against New Zealand wearing black armbands.
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For the unversed, Alex Carey’s blood cancer-stricken father Gordon passed away at the age of 78. The wicketkeeper batter shared the unfortunate development with his fans and followers through a heartbreaking post where he wrote, “Rest in peace Dad, I love you”.
Alex Carey becomes a late addition to Australia’s T20I squad vs NZ
Alex Carey was not a part of Australia’s T20I squad for the New Zealand series, but with Josh Inglis unfortunate calf strain putting him out of action, it offered Carey a chance to make his comeback into the shortest format.
The batsman has been lauded for his exploits in Tests and ODIs but has never been worthy of mention in T20 achievements. In 39 T20Is, the southpaw has scored just 259 runs at an average of 11.8 and a strike rate of 111.2.
The game saw an excellent start for Australia with three early wickets down in the first four overs. At press time, New Zealand was tottering at 31 for 3 in 4.2 overs, with Tim Robinson and Daryl Mitchell batting on 6* and 21*, respectively.
