Black Caps dismissed for 82 as Australia win second ODI and the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy

At Cazalys Stadium, Cairns: Australia 195-9 (Steve Smith 61, Mitchell Starc 38; Trent Boult 4-38, Matt Henry 3-33) beat the Black Caps 82 all out in 33 overs (Adam Zampa 5-35, Sean Abbott 2-1, Mitchell Starc 2-12) by 113 runs

Add it to the long list of Black Caps’ horror scores: 82 all out from 33 overs. Their sixth-worst total in 787 matches of one-day international cricket.

Let’s not beat around the bush: They just butchered another golden chance for a rare win in Australia and handed the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy back to their trans-Tasman rivals with a game to spare.

Their first visit to Cairns has become one to forget, with captain Kane Williamson’s innings of 17 off 58 – which ended when he missed a full toss – summing up their struggles chasing just 196 to win at Cazalys Stadium on Thursday night.

Two days after reducing Australia to 44-5 and 207-8 before they chased down 233 to win the first one-day international, the Black Caps had their hosts 54-5 and 117-8 once Williamson won the toss and chose to bowl.

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From there, the hosts added another 78 runs, with No 9 Mitchell Starc making an unbeaten 38 and No 11 Josh Hazlewood an unbeaten 23 as they put on 47 for the final wicket and lifted their side to 195-9.

Australia’s late rally should have been halted with their score at 162, but there was no appeal when off-spinner Michael Bracewell rapped Hazlewood on the pads, with replays showing the ball would have gone on to hit the stumps.

Instead, they made 195-9, but as it turned out, either total would have been plenty as they extended New Zealand’s winless run on Australian soil to a 14th match across all three formats since 2011.

There’s no such thing as a dead rubber when these two countries meet on the sporting field, but Sunday’s third match will be hard to watch for Kiwi fans.

It should have been a decider, if not a chance for a clean sweep against a team they have had just five scheduled series against over the past 12 years and who they won’t play an ODI series against until late 2027 – at the earliest.

Now it will be merely a chance to salvage something from a tour that has been excruciating to watch from this side of the Tasman.

Trent Boult can hold his head high, after taking four wickets for the second match in a row and finishing with 4-38, as can Matt Henry, who took 3-33, while Tim Southee (1-39) and Jimmy Neesham (0-41) were both economical.

In chasing wickets to end Australia’s innings early, Williamson was forced to turn to spin at the death and even though Bracewell conceded 13 in the penultimate over as Starc and Hazlewood struck late, 196 was still a target well within their grasp.

Martin Guptill, Devon Conway and Tom Latham all came and went inside 10 overs as the Black Caps crawled to 14-3, with Williamson taking 36 balls to score his first boundary, Daryl Mitchell taking 14 to get off the mark, and Sean Abbott somehow bowling 29 before he conceded his first run.

By the 25-over mark, they had also lost Williamson – LBW to Adam Zampa off a ball that should have been sent to the boundary – Mitchell and Neesham and were only 54-6.

Bracewell followed the very next ball, when they still needed 10 to avoid posting a new record low total, below the 64 New Zealand were rolled for against Pakistan in Sharjah in 1986.

They got past that mark – and the next few on the list to boot – but that was a minor victory on a mostly embarrassing evening.

Zampa took 5-35 with his leg spin while Abbott had the remarkable figures of 2-1 and Starc took 2-12. Steve Smith’s innings of 61 earlier was crucial in keeping Australia in the contest.