The Australian men's cricket team are Twenty20 world champions for the first time, after dominating the Black Caps in the 2021 final in Dubai.
Photo: David Gray/Photosport Ltd 2021
Australia have beaten New Zealand by eight wickets, chasing down the 173 required for victory with seven balls to spare.
"The team's pretty gutted right now," Black Caps coach Gary Stead told Morning Report.
"We come into all these games and you want to win and you work hard to try and do that, but Australia were better than us tonight and...we just weren't quite good enough."
Mitchell Marsh spearheaded Australia's run chase, top scoring with an unbeaten 77 from just 50 deliveries.
Marsh shared in a 92-run second wicket partnership with David Warner, who scored 53 from 38 balls opening the bat.
Glenn Maxwell finished unbeaten on 28 (18).
Photo: David Gray/Photosport Ltd 2021
Trent Boult gave the Black Caps some hope, by conceding just five runs from his first two overs and dismissing Australian captain Aaron Finch.
But Australia were ahead of the asking rate from the moment Marsh blasted 15 from Adam Milne's first over.
They were 82 for one after 10 overs and 136 for two after 15.
Boult was the only New Zealand bowler to have any success and finished with two wickets for 18 from his four overs.
The rest of the Black Caps were costly, with Tim Southee's four overs going for 43 runs.
Captain Kane Williamson led New Zealand to a respectable 172 for four, after the Black Caps were sent into bat.
Kane Williamson strikes one of his three sixes in the Twenty20 World Cup final. Photo: David Gray/Photosport Ltd 2021
"We were trying to get a platform and the surface was holding a fraction, typical to here in Dubai," Williamson said.
"It was nice to be able to build some partnerships and get what we thought was a competitive total, but only to be chased superbly by Australia."
Williamson blasted 85 from 48 deliveries, striking 10 fours and three sixes.
Opener Martin Guptill was the only other New Zealand batsman to reach 20, although he struggled to get going with his 28 coming from 35 balls.
The Black Caps struck 115 from the final 10 overs after struggling to 57 for one halfway through the innings.
Josh Hazlewood was the best of the Australian bowlers, taking three wickets for 16 runs from his four overs.
Leg-spinner Adam Zampa was also miserly, with his four overs costing just 26 runs, while Williamson and the Black Caps took 60 runs from Mitchell Starc's 24 deliveries.
