Australia are not short of fast bowlers jostling for room in the Twenty20 World Cup squad, but selectors' headaches intensified on Thursday after Riley Meredith's stirring debut against New Zealand.
Displaying blistering raw pace, Meredith captured 2-24 in Australia's 64-run win at a closed Wellington Regional Stadium.
That included the prized scalp of New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson, who was trapped lbw for nine in the 24-year-old Tasmanian's second over.
A third wicket went begging when Marcus Stoinis dropped Devon Conway in the deep, but Meredith showed more than enough to earn another cap as Aaron Finch-captained Australia look to level the five-match series at 2-2 on Friday.
"A bit of a relief," Meredith said of his debut.
"I was really nervous beforehand. Most of the day I was probably playing it out in my mind, (and) thought about that first ball about a thousand times, so just nice to get it on the pitch in a decent area and go from there."
Meredith may need a few more eye-catching performances to book a ticket to the World Cup in India later this year, with about half a dozen quicks hoping to be among the reserves behind established stars Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc.
But his strong campaign in Australia's Big Bash League, where he took 12 wickets at an economy rate of 7.48 for the Hobart Hurricanes, has already made him a bowler in demand.
He became the Indian Premier League's most expensive uncapped overseas player signed at an auction when the Punjab Kings paid 80 million rupees ($1.10 million) last month to secure him for the April-May tournament.
"When you have a weapon like that in your team, the way Finchy (captain Finch) used him I thought was brilliant tonight," Australia batsman Glenn Maxwell said.
"Riley's biggest strength is he's able to swing the ball at high speeds. So once he gets that new ball in his hands, he's able to shape it away - it's pretty scary."
Meanwhile, Maxwell's seat-shattering assault on New Zealand's bowlers not only helped his team to victory, but is also set to give a boost to a local Wellington charity.
The explosive all-rounder hit five sixes in an innings that yielded 71 runs from 31 balls, including a strike that punched a hole in one of the seats at Wellington Stadium, which was empty due to New Zealand's current Covid-19 restrictions.
Stadium chief executive Shane Harmon had the damaged seat removed and, after asking Maxwell to sign the broken plastic, pledged to post it on online auction site Trade Me, with proceeds going to the Wellington Homeless Women's Trust.
"I'll make a donation, and an apology for breaking a seat," Maxwell told the New Zealand Herald.
"I hadn't hit too many in the middle, so I was happy to get it over the fence."
Australia won the third match of the five-game series by 64 runs, but trail New Zealand 2-1 in the series, with the next game to take place on Friday.
- Reuters
'Weapon' Meredith makes big impression for Australia in Wellington
Image: Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images
Australia are not short of fast bowlers jostling for room in the Twenty20 World Cup squad, but selectors' headaches intensified on Thursday after Riley Meredith's stirring debut against New Zealand.
Displaying blistering raw pace, Meredith captured 2-24 in Australia's 64-run win at a closed Wellington Regional Stadium.
That included the prized scalp of New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson, who was trapped lbw for nine in the 24-year-old Tasmanian's second over.
A third wicket went begging when Marcus Stoinis dropped Devon Conway in the deep, but Meredith showed more than enough to earn another cap as Aaron Finch-captained Australia look to level the five-match series at 2-2 on Friday.
"A bit of a relief," Meredith said of his debut.
"I was really nervous beforehand. Most of the day I was probably playing it out in my mind, (and) thought about that first ball about a thousand times, so just nice to get it on the pitch in a decent area and go from there."
Meredith may need a few more eye-catching performances to book a ticket to the World Cup in India later this year, with about half a dozen quicks hoping to be among the reserves behind established stars Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc.
But his strong campaign in Australia's Big Bash League, where he took 12 wickets at an economy rate of 7.48 for the Hobart Hurricanes, has already made him a bowler in demand.
He became the Indian Premier League's most expensive uncapped overseas player signed at an auction when the Punjab Kings paid 80 million rupees ($1.10 million) last month to secure him for the April-May tournament.
"When you have a weapon like that in your team, the way Finchy (captain Finch) used him I thought was brilliant tonight," Australia batsman Glenn Maxwell said.
"Riley's biggest strength is he's able to swing the ball at high speeds. So once he gets that new ball in his hands, he's able to shape it away - it's pretty scary."
Meanwhile, Maxwell's seat-shattering assault on New Zealand's bowlers not only helped his team to victory, but is also set to give a boost to a local Wellington charity.
The explosive all-rounder hit five sixes in an innings that yielded 71 runs from 31 balls, including a strike that punched a hole in one of the seats at Wellington Stadium, which was empty due to New Zealand's current Covid-19 restrictions.
Stadium chief executive Shane Harmon had the damaged seat removed and, after asking Maxwell to sign the broken plastic, pledged to post it on online auction site Trade Me, with proceeds going to the Wellington Homeless Women's Trust.
"I'll make a donation, and an apology for breaking a seat," Maxwell told the New Zealand Herald.
"I hadn't hit too many in the middle, so I was happy to get it over the fence."
Australia won the third match of the five-game series by 64 runs, but trail New Zealand 2-1 in the series, with the next game to take place on Friday.
- Reuters
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