The fifth and final T20I of the ongoing series between New Zealand and Australia will be played without fans after the spectators were banned for the third and fourth match due to the COVID-19 lockdown in Auckland following the new Coronavirus cases.
New Zealand's largest city, Auckland back to lockdown after fresh COVID-19 cases emerged. At the moment, Auckland is at COVID-19 alert level 3 and the rest of New Zealand at level 2 for seven days.
The lockdown had already forced the New Zealand Cricket (NZC) was already forced to shift the fourth T20I from Auckland to Wellington to be played from March 5 and now the final of the home series has been also shifted to Wellington from Tauranga starting March 7.
Now, New Zealand’s last three matches of the five-match T20I series against Australia will be played at Wellington Regional Stadium behind the closed door. NZC confirmed the same on Monday (March 1).
At the moment, New Zealand is leading the T20I series 2-0 after winning the opening matches in Christchurch and Dunedin with the third match slated on Wednesday (March 3) in Wellington.
Reacting to the latest development, Australia spinner Ashton Agar said organizers: “They’ve made sure that they’ve looked after the players’ mental and physical wellbeing and come to the right decision.”
Australia needs to win the last three matches to win the T20I series in New Zealand and Agar feels the lack of fans in Wellington could be a massive advantage for the tourists.
Agar signed off by saying, “A home ground advantage always helps when you’ve got a crowd that’s right behind their home team and that’s how it’s been so far. It’s always a fun crowd here in New Zealand; it’s always a great atmosphere, so for them to not have that particularly in a game that the series hinges could be a massive advantage for us.”
Noteworthy, Auckland-based players of the New Zealand T20I squad are reportedly awaiting COVID-19 test results before being cleared to play in the third T20I against Australia.
(With Reuters Inputs)
