New Zealand’s clocks have only just changed to summer time and this T20I series against Autralia – with three games across four days – will mark the earliest start ever to an international home season as both teams look to continue their build towards next year’s World Cup. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the forecast suggests there will need to be some luck to get three completed matches.
The home side is coming off the back of their T20I tri-series final victory against South Africa in July, while for Australia, this series is the latest in an extensive run of the format which has already featured West Indies and South Africa in the last few months and will be followed by India in late October.
The two teams are tracking well: New Zealand have won nine out of 11 T20Is in 2025 while Australia’s formline has been formidable with just two losses in 17 matches since the last T20 World Cup.
For this series, there are key absentees in both squads. New Zealand are missing captain Mitchell Santner (abdominal injury), Will O’Rourke (back), Glenn Phillips (groin), Finn Allen (foot), Adam Milne (ankle), Lockie Ferguson (hamstring) and Kane Williamson (unavailable).
Australia are without Cameron Green (playing red-ball cricket), Glenn Maxwell (broken wrist), Josh Inglis (calf strain), Nathan Ellis (paternity) and Pat Cummins (back). It is also their first T20I series since the retirement of Mitchell Starc, although he had not featured since the 2024 T20 World Cup.
Given the players Australia are missing, it will be interesting to see how they structure their batting order and specifically how high Tim David slots in following his recent success at No. 5. New Zealand, meanwhile, have been boosted by the returns of Kyle Jamieson and Ben Sears to add to their pace options, which will somewhat help counter the injuries to Ferguson and Milne.
These matches are being used to mark 20 years since the first men’s T20I between New Zealand and Australia at Eden Park, although the game itself happened in February of 2005, with Bay Oval being rebranded “Beige Oval” and there will likely be plenty of references to the big hair on display that day in Auckland. There are also plans for an under-arm bowling contest between fans during the interval which harks back to, well, you know what.
The Chappell-Hadlee Trophy, currently held by Australia, is up for grabs after the 2024 change that saw it presented for T20I series.
Form guide
New Zealand WWWWW (last five completed T20Is, most recent first)
Australia WLWWW
