Wellington: Opening batsman Martin Guptill struck a scintillating 97 off 50 balls as New Zealand defeated Australia by four runs in a high-scoring second T20I at the University Oval here on Thursday.
Batting first, the home side posted a mammoth total of 219 for seven, courtesy of Guptill, whose knock included six fours and eight maximums.
The opener was well supported by Kane Williamson (53 off 35 balls) and James Neesham (45 not out off 16 balls). During its chase, Australia put up a late challenge via Marcus Stoinis (78 off 37 balls) and Daniel Sams (41 off 15 balls) but fell short of the target.
Neesham picked up the crucial wickets of both batsmen in the last over to hand the host the win.