Neighboring Australia and New Zealand will face each other in the World Twenty20 final on Sunday (November 14). Australia won the toss and elected to field. That means New Zealand lost the toss and elected to bat.
Both the teams have not tasted the T20 World Cup title so far. So this time the cricket world is getting a new champion.
Australia, the five-time world champions in ODI cricket, are also one of the best teams in history. However, he has never been crowned the best in the world in T20. On the other hand, New Zealand, which has never reached the final in the previous six editions, has reached the final of the T20 for the first time.
Batting, bowling and fielding are the two best teams in the world today. In the semi-finals, New Zealand lost to the top-ranked England in this edition and Australia lost to two-ranked Pakistan.
In the Super Twelve, they lost to South Africa by 5 wickets. Aaron Finch won the second match against Sri Lanka by 8 wickets. Australia stumbled in the third match. Finch, Warners lost to arch-rivals England by 7 wickets.
Bangladesh won by 8 wickets again. In the last match of Super Twelve, the current champion West Indies lost to Ajit by 6 wickets. In the semi-finals, Australia stopped Pakistan’s dream journey and won a dramatic victory. The goal now is the elusive T20 title.
On the other hand, New Zealand’s resilience in world cricket can be seen in the last three years. After breaking dreams in the final of the ODI World Cup in 2019, the Black Caps also reached the final of the Test Championship this year. And for the third time this year, New Zealand reached the final of an event.
However, Williamsons started the World Cup Super Twelve with a loss. They started with 5 wickets against Pakistan. They beat India by 6 wickets and came back victorious. In the next three matches, New Zealand will face Scotland, Namibia and Afghanistan. They beat England by 5 wickets in the semi-final to avenge their loss in the ODI World Cup final. The goal now is to win Dubai.
So far, the two Tasmanian nations have met 14 times in the T20, with Azira leading with nine wins. New Zealand won by 5 wickets. The two teams met once in the World Cup. In 2016, the Kiwis won the Super Ten by 7 runs.
New Zealand XI
Martin Guptill, Glenn Phillips, Ken Williamson (captain), Tim Sheifert, Darrell Mitchell, James Neesham, Adam Milane Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Trent Bolt, Ish Sodhi.
Australia XI
David Warner, Aaron Finch (captain), Mitchell Marsh, Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stones, Matthew Wade, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Stark, Adam Jumpa and Jos Hazlewood
