Dharamsala: New Zealand produced yet another&nbsp;sublime bowling performance to pull off a second successive&nbsp;giant-slaying act, beating ODI world champions Australia by 8&nbsp;runs in a dramatic ICC World Twenty20 clash here today.
New Zealand bowled with a lot of heart to stop Australia&nbsp;at 134 for nine after making 142 for eight at the scenic HPCA&nbsp;Stadium. The highlight of the Kiwi innings was a 27-ball 39 by&nbsp;opener Martin Guptill.
The Black Caps, who outplayed India in their first match,&nbsp;then produced another clinical bowling performance to inch&nbsp;towards semifinals.&nbsp;
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2016/mar/Santner-win.jpg" alt="" />New Zealand's Mitchell Santner (R) celebrates with teammate New Zealand's Martin Guptill after his dismissal of Australia's David Warner during the World T20 match at The Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium (HPCA) in Dharamsala on Friday. Pic/AFP
Australia, playing their first game of the tournament,&nbsp;were found wanting at crucial junctures of the game with none&nbsp;of their big guns in batting delivering the goods today.&nbsp;
They looked comfortable in the chase till the time an in-form Usman Khawaja (38) and Shane Watson (13) were at the&nbsp;crease. The duo took the team to 42 for no loss in five overs.&nbsp;
However, there was a twist in the tale in store with&nbsp;Australia losing four quick wickets to be under pressure at 66&nbsp;for four.&nbsp;
Left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner, who had foxed the&nbsp;highly rated Indian batting line up in Nagpur, brought his&nbsp;team back into the contest by having the dangerous David&nbsp;Warner caught at deep midwicket (6) and Steven Smith (6)&nbsp;stumped.
Australia bat deep and the onus was on Glenn Maxwell and&nbsp;Mitchell Starc to see off the chase. They added 36 runs for&nbsp;the fifth wicket before Maxwell mistimed one to be holed at&nbsp;deep extra cover.
It was anyone's game from here on with Australia needing&nbsp;43 off the last 29 balls, a gettable target even though half&nbsp;their side had been sent back to the dugout.
The game tilted in Australia's favour when Marsh and&nbsp;Ashton Agar hit a six each off Santner to release the&nbsp;pressure. &nbsp;
But just then, Mitchell McLenaghan brought New Zealand&nbsp;back by dismissing both Marsh and Agar in the penultimate&nbsp;over, leaving Australia to get 19 from the final over, which&nbsp;proved too much for them in the end.
Earlier, Martin Guptill (39 off 27) gave New Zealand a&nbsp;racy start. He hammered pacer Nathan Coulter-Nile for&nbsp;successive fours before smashing left-arm spinner Ashton Agar&nbsp;for three sixes in third over of the innings.
The crowd was treated to some crisp hitting from the&nbsp;opener as New Zealand reached 71 for no loss in the first six&nbsp;overs.&nbsp;
Guptill's departure in the eighth over derailed the&nbsp;innings with wickets falling at regular intervals.
Grant Elliott, batting at number six, came up with a&nbsp;valuable 27 off 20 balls to add crucial runs to the total.
Captain Kane Williamson and Colin Munro had made 24 and&nbsp;23 at the top of the order.&nbsp;
Brief Scores: New Zealand: 142/8 in 20 overs (Martin Guptill 39, Glenn&nbsp;Maxwell 2/18, James Faulkner 2/18). 
Australia: 134 for 9 in 20 overs.(Usman Lhawaja 38,&nbsp;Mitchell Marsh 24; M McClenaghan 3/17).

New Zealand produced yet another&nbsp;sublime bowling performance to pull off a second successive&nbsp;giant-slaying act, beating ODI world champions Australia by 8&nbsp;runs in a dramatic ICC World Twenty20 clash in Dharamsala on Friday

WT20: 'Giant killers' New Zealand script dramatic win over Australia

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WT20: 'Giant killers' New Zealand script dramatic win over Australia

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