CWC’15: Co-Hosts To Have The Final Cup Of Tea; Black Or Yellow, Let Us See

Finally, after witnessing some exciting cricket till the semi-finals, we are just two days away from the summit clash of the ICC World Cup 2015 between the co-hosts Australia and New Zealand. It’ll be for the first time that both will face off each other in the finals of a World Cup. With both teams on a winning rampage throughout the tournament, a fierce battle can be expected. Here is the preview of this all important clash:

Pitch and Weather:

Traditionally, the pitch at MCG favours the batsmen and, this time too, one can expect more or less the same. The forecast for Sunday is sunny so, we can expect a cracker-jack of a game.

Time 09:00 IST

Road to Finals:

Australia	Matches	New Zealand
Beat England by 111 runs	1st Match	Beat Sri Lanka by 98 runs
Match Abandoned	2nd Match	Beat Scotland by 3 wickets
Lost to New Zealand by 1 wicket	3rd Match	Beat England by 8 wickets
Beat Afghanistan by 275 runs	4th Match	Beat Australia by 1 wicket
Beat Sri Lanka by 64 runs	5th Match	Beat Afghanistan by 6 wickets
Beat Scotland by 7 wickets	6th Match	Beat Bangladesh by 3 wickets
Beat Pakistan by 6 wickets	Quarter-Final	Beat West Indies by 143 runs
Beat India by 95 runs	Semi-Final	Beat South Africa by 4 wickets

Previous World Cup Encounters:

 1987: Australia won by 3 runs (Indore)

         Australia won by 17 runs (Chandigarh)

 1992: New Zealand won by 37 runs (Auckland)

1996: Australia won by 6 wickets (Chennai)

1999: New Zealand won by 5 wickets (Cardiff)

2003: Australia won by 96 runs (Port Elizabeth)

2007: Australia won by 215 runs (St George’s)

2011: Australia won by 7 wickets (Nagpur)

2015: New Zealand won by 1 wicket (Auckland)

After witnessing New Zealand’s performance throughout the tournament, it can be understood quite clearly that they have dared to dream of glory right from the time (2013), when their cricket hit a low. During the tour of South Africa in 2013, Brendon McCullum’s team got all out for 45 in the first Test at Cape Town and failed to get past a total of 250 in both innings of second Test at Port Elizabeth. Surely, they had their backs against the wall and when such things happen, the best thing each and every player of the team does is he looks within himself and, as soon as he does this, wonders start to happen. Right from the end of 2013, their resurrection started and they won back to back series against West Indies, India and then again West Indies. The team was coming to terms and McCullum’s aggressive style of captaincy was one of the things that was making them do that.

Just before the World Cup, they defeated Pakistan in the ODI series in UAE and decimated Sri Lanka 4-2 at home. The team combination was sorted out and each player was doing his job too perfection. When the World Cup started, they continued their excellent run of form and are now just one step behind from clinching the coveted title. The expectations would be higher but when more is asked, the bigger they stand up.

   Daniel Vettori (R) will like to end his international career on a high

 

Best Batsmen:

Australia	Team	New Zealand
Steven Smith	Batsman	Martin Guptill
7	Matches	8
6	Innings	8
346	Total Runs	532
57.66	Average	76.00
94.02	Strike-Rate	108.79
105	Highest Score	237*

Just like New Zealand, Australian Cricket also hit a low in 2012. After their victory over West Indies in Test series, they lost to South Africa, England (Ashes 2013) and , where the infamous controversy of home-work gate involving Shane Watson, Mitchell Johnson took place. But when Darren Lehmann took over as the coach, things started to change. Unlike Mickey Arthur, who brought a lot of young guns at constant intervals, Lehmann stuck to a combination of experience and youth, which resulted in Australia thrashing England 5-0 in the Ashes 2013-14. The ODI team also started to come to terms after defeating England 4-1, Pakistan 3-0 and South Africa 4-1 in 2014. An year of persistence, hard-work paid off the former World Champions.

So far in the World Cup, the kind of form they have shown is not at all surprising given the fact that they have the home advantage plus the number of match-winners in the name of Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, who have brought them to this stage. The summer of Steven Smith just keeps rolling on and it might well prove to be the New Zealand and victory in the finals.

  Captain Clarke is due for a big knock

 

Best Bowler:

Australia	Team	New Zealand
Mitchell Starc	Bowler	Trent Boult
7	Matches	8
7	Innings	8
204	Runs Given	331
20	Wickets	21
10.20	Average	15.76
3.65	Economy	4.41
6/28	Best Bowling	5/27

 

Key Battles To Watch Out For

Brendon McCullum v Mitchell Johnson:

 

It’s going to be Aggression vs Aggression. All in all it can be said that it’s going to be a fascinating battle as the batsman is in great form and the bowler has started to regain touch. This battle might well decide the fate of this match as if anyone of them gets going, it’ll surely get difficult for the other team to make a come back into the match. Who can forget the Pool match between both these teams. McCullum hammered Johnson all around the park and left him clueless. So, this’ll be a good opportunity for Mitch to get his revenge on the swashbuckling batsman. 

Aaron Finch v Trent Boult:

 

Australia’s newly found run-machine in ODIs will be up against New Zealand’s wicket-taking machine. It’s going to be a fascinating battle as both are in good form but Finch will have to plan out to how to counter the inswing of Boult, which can trouble him to a great extent. 

Team News:

As far as both teams are concerned, there are no injury worries and both are unlikely to tinker with their obvious playing eleven.

Playing XI:

Australia:

David Warner, Aaron Finch, Steven Smith, Michael Clarke, Shane Watson, Glenn Maxwell, James Faulkner, Brad Haddin, Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood

New Zealand:

Brendon McCullum, Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Grant Elliott, Corey Anderson, Luke Ronchi, Daniel Vettori, Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Matt Henry