David Warner smashed a magnificent 156 while Mitchell Starc bagged three wickets to help Australia beat New Zealand by 117 runs in the third ODI at Melbourne to complete a series whitewash and thus regain the Chappell-Hadlee trophy.
Having already sealed the three-match series 2-0, Australia came in with an unchanged squad to bat first after winning the toss. For the first time on the tour, the visitors made early breakthroughs as Trent Boult, within his first three overs sent Aaron Finch and Steven Smith packing. Middle-order too fumbled as the hosts were reduced to 73 for four in 19 overs.
Before the visitors could sniff some success coming their way, a 105-run partnership between David Warner and Travis Head pulled their side out of trouble. Left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner then broke the partnership by getting rid of Head for 37. Warner then continued to punish the bowlers on the other hand as he completed his seventh century of the year and second of the series.
On other hand, Warner had a blissful 2016, having scored 1388 runs in the 23 innings at an astonishing average of 63.09 and a strike rate of more around 105.47.
Australia, who were progressing towards a par score and with some assistance late in the order, managed 264 runs on the board for the loss of eight wickets. David Warner was though run-out by Boult on the last ball of their innings.
In reply, the Blackcaps got off to a decent start, scoring 44 runs in first eight overs before losing Tom Latham for 28. Martin Guptill and skipper Kane Williamson tried to anchor the ship but failed as the visitors lost their star batsman cheaply. Next up, speedster Mitchell Starc bowled an unplayable yorker to Henry Nicolls, dislodging his bails off.
With five down below hundred, New Zealand dent their chances of saving their pride as Australian bowlers had the tail to toil with. The left-arm fast bowler notched up three wickets to end the series with a high, as hosts thrashed their Trans-Tasmanian rivals by 117 runs.
David Warner was bestowed the player-of-the-Match and also the Player-of-the-Series for registering 299 runs in the series, with two hundreds at an eyebrow-raising average of 99.66.