T20 World Cup: 'We were outplayed completely,' says Finch after Australia's 89-run loss to New Zealand

Australia captain Aaron Finch admitted that his side was "outplayed completely" in their 89-run defeat to New Zealand in the T20 World Cup on Saturday.

After being asked to bat first at Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), New Zealand put up 200 for 3 in 20 overs. Openers Finn Allen and Devon Conway gave the Kiwis a flying start as they reached 50 inside four overs. Allen struck three sixes and five fours in his 16-ball 42 and scored the runs at a whopping strike-rate of 262.50. Fast bowler Josh Hazlewood finally broke the opening stand in the fifth over by dismissing Allen.

Conway, the eventual Player of the Match, remained unbeaten on 92 off 58 deliveries. He hit two sixes and seven fours and scored his runs at a strike rate of 158.62. New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson scored a run-a-ball 23 before Jimmy Neesham struck two sixes towards the end as he contributed with 26 off 13 balls.

In reply to that, Australia lost their key batsman David Warner in the second over of their chase. Finch was the second man to go. He scored 13 off 11 balls. Glenn Maxwell, who scored a 20-ball 28, top-scored for the hosts as they were bowled out for 111 runs with 2.5 overs remaining.

"They certainly did (on the New Zealand openers), they set the tone in the first 4 overs and we didn't recover. Needed a big start, that didn't happen and we were outplayed completely. He got off to a flier (on Finn), we needed early wickets which didn't happen and when we chased, we lost too many wickets, we weren't good enough with the net run-rate taking a bad hit. We play Sri Lanka next, four games left, need to win everything and have some luck on our side," Finch said at the post-match presentation on Saturday.

The win on Saturday marked New Zealand's first T20I win on Australian soil. It was also the BlackCaps' first win Down Under since 2011 and their first white-ball victory against Australia in Australia since February 2009.

Meanwhile, New Zealand skipper Williamson praised his side, saying they were "clinical" in whatever they did.

"It was one of those days, an outstanding day, the openers set the tone, lots of contributions right through the batting and that was a very good score on this pitch. The bowlers then did well and were well supported in the field. Everyone know their roles in this team, we knew about the quality of their bowling (Australia's), took the game deep and we were very clinical in what we needed to do," said Williamson after his side's win at SCG.

AUS vs NZ: Finn Allen's game compliments mine, says Devon Conway

Conway heaped praise on 23-year-old Allen, saying he's a "very explosive and fearless" batsman.

"It was a special performance by the boys tonight. The credit has to go to Finn, how he started and got the momentum for us, pretty good performance from everyone. It (Finn's knock) was pretty special, I have seen him do it time and time again, young guy in international cricket but he's very explosive and fearless.

The way Finn plays his game complements my game and I can just bat around him. The surface was very good to bat on and I thought timing the ball would give you more success. It means a lot to us, especially here at the SCG, to beat Australia on any occasion is big, we will take this momentum into the next game," added Conway.

The Aussies have a two-day break before their next Super 12 fixture, which is against Sri Lanka at Perth Stadium on Tuesday (Oct. 25). New Zealand, on the other hand, next play on Wednesday (Oct. 26) when they face off against Afghanistan at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).