The inaugural Chappell-Hadlee Trophy series provided cricket fans on both sides of the Tasman with some of the most thrilling one-day cricket matches they had ever seen.
The BLACKCAPS won the first match in a close contest at Melbourne’s Tesltra Dome. A pressure-absorbing 22-run 48th over managed by Brendon McCullum and Hamish Marshall helped the team to a stunning, first-up four-wicket win.
The BLACKCAPS then narrowly lost the second match at Sydney after a heroic performance by Chris Harris who had returned to bat at the death with a badly injured shoulder.
However, after all the heart-stopping action the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy series was drawn after the third match was rained out.
The series could not have had a more interesting introduction.
It was well placed on the cricket calendar, even if the weather had the final say. But for both teams it has served its purpose of having teams in concert pitch for the respective campaigns they have ahead of them.
It was intended the series would be the Bledisloe Cup of cricket and it has certainly achieved maximum impact on its first outing.
