Australia vs New Zealand, Final
ICC Champions Trophy 2009
Mon, Oct 05 2009, 18:00
SuperSport Park, Centurion

Watch The Live Streaming – Cricket Live Guide

Team News:
Australia: The Ashes defeat seems to have galvanized the side into rediscovering their world-conquering ways. However, although they are very good, Australia are still not at a level where other teams are defeated by the thought of facing them even before setting foot on the field. They can make that work to their advantage though, since they will be hungrier to prove that they haven’t lost their aura and will therefore allow no room for complacency to creep in. Their recent one-day form has been awesome, losing just one of their last eleven matches. They also seem to be peaking right on time, as their demolition of England’s competitive total in the semi-finals showed. Ricky Ponting hasn’t felt the absence of a quality spinner, since Nathan Hauritz has done a good job, and the pace bowlers have been consistently firing. A win in the finals should take Australia back to the No.1 spot, with a more comfortable lead over the others in the pack than a few decimal points.

After losing the Test number one ranking, this will be another strong motivator for the Australian team. Ponting of course has been in sublime touch with the bat, but over the course of this tournament Michael Hussey and Shane Watson have also got back in form. Callum Ferguson and Cameron White showed their potential in England, so Australia have a good hand while batting. Their bowlers will need to put the New Zealand batsmen under constant pressure in the same way they did with England, since the New Zealand batting is their weaker suit, and the Aussies’ bowling is their stronger one.
New Zealand: For much of their cricket history they have been over-shadowed by their trans-Tasman rivals, and for most of that time, they have not enjoyed it. This is a golden opportunity given to New Zealand to break out of their habitual capitulation in front of Australia and pip them to a major World Title. For most of the tournament, they have gone about their jobs in a quietly efficient way, not attracting too much hype, but getting the job done – again emblematic of much of their history. Any other side hit by injuries the way they have been would have been badly affected, and certainly if the side had been lacking major stars the way the Black Caps have, no one would have given them a hope of making the next round, let alone the finals.

They will derive enormous satisfaction from proving people wrong, and the way to do that even more effectively is to win once again the only tournament they have won on the world stage. When they won the tournament in 2002, they beat a much more fancied India in the final, proving that stars and past form count for nothing and it’s the brilliance on the day that wins the day. Their bowling has looked sharper as the tournament has progressed, thanks in no small part to Shane Bond slowly returning to his fastest, meanest best. They have also found men for the occasion in every match – the hallmark of any team that has done well on a consistent basis anywhere. Now they just need to do it for one more match. There is a lot to play for, for New Zealand and they have the strongest motivation of all – proving history wrong.