Aussie blitz sets new world record

The scorecard: New Zealand 6-243 (Guptill 105, Munro 76) lost to Australia 5-245 (Short 76, Warner 59, Finch 36* Maxwell 31) by five wickets with seven balls remaining.

The match in a tweet: Records tumble on an incredible night! Aussies concede their highest ever total after a Guptill blitz before responding with their highest ever T20 score to notch astonishing win #NZvAUS

The hero: While he didn’t go as big as his opening counterpart Martin Guptill, in a game of astonishing six-hitting carnage D'Arcy Short played the game's decisive hand them to go from Big Bash sensation to bona fide international T20 threat. Setting off with captain and fellow opener David Warner on an improbable record run-chase, the left-handed pair pasted 91 runs off the first six overs to make it clear an Australian win was well and truly on the cards. Warner departed with the score at 121 in the ninth over and even after Chris Lynn came and went, Short barrelled on. He and Glenn Maxwell took 29 off the seven balls immediately after Lynn was dismissed in an incredible display of hitting. Short showed brilliant composure to find the boundary when required and played off a succession of batting partners in firstly Warner and then Maxwell and Aaron Finch. While it was Finch who sealed the game with the game's 32rd six, Short had broken the back of the chase.

The records: This was not a night for the bowlers as a host of records tumbled, but the only one Australia will care about is this one; their 5-245 was the highest successful run-chase in T20 history, at any level. Earlier, New Zealand struck the highest score Australia have even conceded in T20Is and the seventh highest total overall. Andrew Tye's figures of 2-64 were the worst ever figures recorded by an Australian in T20Is, beating Brett Lee's 0-56 against West Indies in 2009 and the 32 sixes struck for the match equalled the most ever in a T20I, joining the run-fest in Florida between West Indies and India last year.

The consolation effort: Thirteen years after the first-ever T20 International was held at this very venue, Martin Guptill became the format's most prolific run-scorer and put on a show deserving of the mantle previously held by former Kiwi skipper Brendon McCullum. It was a knock truly deserving of a better outcome for his side, as the home side's bowlers squandered what appeared the unlosable match. Guptill blasted nine sixes in his remarkable 54-ball 105, with Australia were powerless to stop his onslaught as he shared in a 132-run opening stand with Colin Munro.

Guptill yesterday cautioned batsmen to be wary of Eden Park's tantalisingly short straight boundaries, but he paid little attention to his own warning in his early onslaught as he pasted three sixes in the Power Play – all back down the ground – while showing a deft touch by helping a Billy Stanlake bouncer over the head of third man. After briefly taking a back seat to Munro (more on him below), Guptill unleashed for the night's main course, sending his home crowd into raptures as he went from 71 to 100 in the space of five legal deliveries, becoming just the sixth man to post multiple T20I centuries. While he may have been a fraction unfortunate when he was given out to a high full toss from Tye, he walked off to deserved standing ovation.

The support cast: It was only a matter of time before David Warner delivered a match-turning knock in the format he made his name in and he duly delivered for Australia. Coming off scores of 6, 4 and 2, Warner hit out of his slump in devastating fashion to silence the Auckland crowd and have the visitors absolutely flying at 0-91 after the Power Play after helping to take 22 off Ben Wheeler's second over. Like Munro had done less than a couple of hours earlier, Warner's cameo set his side on the path for an enormous total and ultimately an historic chase.

The other consolation effort: Munro rode his luck early but he slowly found his groove in a whirlwind knock. Amazingly for someone who ended up with a 33-ball 72, Munro played second fiddle to opening partner Guptill who struck 20 of the Kiwis' first 25 runs. Narrowly avoiding a chop-on off his second ball and given a life on 14 when Andrew Tye put down a sharp return catch, the fearless left-hander went on a six-hitting spree. He looked to be on track for a perfect over when Tye, one of the finest defensive bowlers in the world, was sent for three sixes off the first three balls of his second over. The Australian got his revenge when he had Munro caught on the long-off fence with the Kiwi going for his fourth straight six, but the damage had been done to set the hosts on course for what looked an unassailable total.

The dismissal: Newcomer Mark Chapman, formerly of the Hong Kong national side, might never have faced a bowler quite like Billy Stanlake. The towering speedster, like all the Australans, went for plenty but had a small moment of joy when a rising bouncer not only knocked Chapman's helmet off his head, but watched it roll on his stumps. It came in the midst of a late-innings collapse of 4-12, which in the end proved crucial to the game's outcome.

The shot: If the Black Caps' rookie wicketkeeper Tim Seifert was daunted by his promotion above skipper Kane Williamson to No.3, he didn't show it. Seifert, playing his second international game, effortlessly hit Tye for six over long-off off his very first delivery.

The wash up: Australia, incredibly, have the No.1 ranking in their sights if they can triumph again at this venue in Wednesday's final. New Zealand appear their more likely opponents but England are a mathematical chance if they win Sunday's final group-stage match against the Kiwis in Hamilton.

New Zealand: Colin Munro, Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson (c), Mark Chapman, Ross Taylor, Colin de Grandhomme, Tim Seifert (wk), Ben Wheeler, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult

Australia: David Warner (c), Aaron Finch, D'Arcy Short, Chris Lynn, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey (wk), Ashton Agar, AJ Tye, Kane Richardson, Billy Stanlake

Trans-Tasman T20 Tri-Series

First T20I Australia beat New Zealand by seven wickets. Scorecard

Second T20I Australia beat England by five wickets. Scorecard

Third T20I Australia beat England by seven wickets. Scorecard

Fourth T20I New Zealand beat England by 12 runs. Scorecard

Fifth T20I Australia beat New Zealand by five wickets. Scorecard

Sixth T20I NZ v England, Seddon Park, February 18. Scorecard

Final Australia v TBC, Eden Park, February 21. Scorecard

Australia squad: David Warner (c), Aaron Finch (vc), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Ben Dwarshuis, Travis Head, Chris Lynn, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, D'Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa.

England squad: Eoin Morgan (c), Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Dawid Malan, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, James Vince, David Willey, Mark Wood.

New Zealand squad: Kane Williamson (c), Tom Blundell, Trent Boult, Tom Bruce, Colin de Grandhomme, Martin Guptill, Anaru Kitchen, Colin Munro, Seth Rance, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Ben Wheeler.