AUS vs NZ: Adam Zampa Joins Brett Lee, Shahid Afridi In Unique World Cup List

The 31-year-old Australia National Cricket Team leg-spinner Adam Zampa continued his bowling brilliance and performed well in the 27th match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 against the New Zealand National Cricket Team at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala on Saturday, October 28.

Adam Zampa looked scratchy in the first two matches of the ICC World Cup 2023 and he wasn’t able to make an impact that Australia would have expected from him.

The star leggie went wicketless in the first match against India and ended up conceding 53 runs. He was poor in the second match as well and registered figures of 1/70 against South Africa.

Since then, Adam Zampa has transformed himself completely and has bowled staggeringly well. He has emerged as the top wicket-taker for Australia and his impactful performances have helped the Pat Cummins & Co. seal victories.

After failing against India and South Africa, Adam Zampa picked 12 wickets in his next three matches. He registered the figures of 4/47 against Sri Lanka, 4/53 against Pakistan, and 4/8 against the Netherlands.

Adam Zampa Joins Elite World Cup List

Zampa continued his brilliant run with the ball against the Kiwis and returned with three wickets in his bag. In his 10-over quota, he gave away 74 runs in a high-scoring thriller.

With his performance, Adam Zampa joined an elite list of bowlers with at least three wickets in most consecutive World Cup innings.

Bowlers with at least three wickets in most consecutive WC innings:

4 – Brett Lee (2003)

4 – Chaminda Vaas (2003)

4 – Glenn McGrath (2007)

4 – Shahid Afridi (2007-11)

4 – Jofra Archer (2019)

4 – Adam Zampa (2023)

Talking about the match, New Zealand won the toss and elected to bowl first, the decision which backfired massively. Australian opener Travis Head finally returned to the playing XI after missing out on the last few matches due to injury and set the stage on fire.

Head smashed a spectacular century and built a tremendous 175-run partnership in 117 balls with veteran opener David Warner, who also batted magnificently but fell a few runs short of his ton. In the end, Glenn Maxwell (41) and Pat Cummins (37) played brutal innings to power Australia to a gigantic total of 388.

Chasing the target, Rachin Ravindra once again shined with the bat and smashed a sensational century. Daryl Mitchell and James Neesham also played brilliant knocks, but the Kiwis lost the match by a margin of 5 runs.