- Vishnupriya Agarwal
T20 World Cup: Australia will play the final of the T20 World Cup 2021 on Sunday against New Zealand. It will be Australia’s second appearance in the final of a T20 World Cup. Australia played the final of the 2010 edition of the tournament against England. England won the match by seven wickets after chasing down the target of 148 runs in 17 overs.
It will be Australia’s first appearance in the final of an ICC event since the 2015 ODI World Cup. Australia played the final against New Zealand only and managed to win the match by seven wickets.
Australia qualified for the semi-final of a T20 World Cup in 2007 and 2012. On both occasions, the team that defeated Australia went on to win the tournament. Australia lost the semi-final of the 2007 world cup against India and the 2012 semi-final against West Indies.
The final of the T20 World Cup will take place at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai. Let’s look at the five reasons why Australia has the edge over New Zealand in this game.
David Warner has proved his worth in the Australian lineup by being the leading run-scorer in the tournament. He has made 236 runs in six matches at an average of 47.20 and a strike rate of 148.42.
He played a crucial role in the semi-final against Pakistan. Australia lost the wicket of Aaron Finch in the very first over, and Pakistani bowlers were at the top of their game. All the odds were against Australia, and it looked like Pakistan had the upper hand.
However, Warner didn’t change his approach in the game. He continued being in an attacking mode and helped Australia gather 52 runs in the powerplay.
Australia has won three of the four games played in Dubai in the tournament. The only loss came against England as the entire team failed to perform as per the drawn plan.
Australia played the semi-final against Pakistan at this venue, and hence, Australia will have much more idea regarding the conditions than New Zealand.
New Zealand, on the other hand, has played only two games here. One came against India, and the other was against Scotland. Against India, the Blackcaps had a dominant run. However, against Scotland, the batting completely fell off-guard. Apart from Martin Guptill and Glenn Phillips, no other batter could score over 15 runs.
Adam Zampa has been the most successful bowler for Australia in the tournament. He has been in a dominant run since the start of the tournament.
Zampa has picked 12 wickets in six matches at an average of 10.91, an economy of 5.69, and a strike rate of 11.5. He is one of the two bowlers to pick a fifer in the T20 World Cup 2021.
Zampa has an excellent record against Blackcaps captain Kane Williamson. He has dismissed him twice in 38 balls and has conceded only 37 runs. Williamson will be the key for New Zealand’s middle-order in the absence of Devon Conway. If Zampa can dismiss him, maybe that would do half the job for Australia.
New Zealand last won a knockout game against Australia in 1981 in the first final of the Benson & Hedges World Series Cup. The series is famous for Trevor Chappell bowling an underarm in the third final.
Since 1981, New Zealand and Australia have met each other 16 times in a knockout game, and Australia has won all these games. When New Zealand walks into this game, this particular record will be there in the back of the mind of players.
Australia’s middle-order was on point against Pakistan in the semi-final. Mitchell Marsh, Marcus Stoinis, and Matthew Wade all contributed to the win.
Marsh made a critical 28 runs off 22 balls. His innings didn’t let Pakistani bowlers settle in.
In the end, Stoinis and Wade made all the differences. They added 81 runs for the sixth wicket and helped Australia win the match by five wickets.