The big day has arrived. The final of the T20 World Cup 2021 that is. And it is a Trans-Tasman rivalry that is in our hands. 


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When the tournament began no one really gave these two teams any chance of getting ahead of the Super 12s but as the tournament progressed, the favourites kept on changing and then the semi-finals saw two of the most thrilling contests, causing sort of upset with New Zealand and Australia getting through. 


That also means we will see a new T20 World Cup champion this year like it had happened in the ODI World Cup two years ago. New Zealand remains a constant though. They have made it a habit of making the finals of the ICC events. They missed the ODI trophy by the barest of margins and this year they beat India to claim the first World Test Championship trophy. Now they have a chance to clinch their second ICC cup. 

Australia, despite having superb run in ICC tournaments in the late nineties and noughties, have not had a great run in past five years. It's been six years they have won an ICC tournament, their last win being the 2016 ODI World Cup that happened in their backyard. Even then, they had New Zealand in the final and today as well they face the Black Caps. 


As far as playing XI is concered, we don't see Australia making any change to their playing XI despite Steve Smith not being among runs. They would not like to tamper with a winning combination. 

New Zealand, however, will have to make way for Tim Seifert after Devon Conway broke his arm while taking out his frustration after the dismissal in the semi-final clash. It would be interesting to see where he Seifert plays. Kane Williamson will need to fix the batting order in a way that it does not hurt NZ's chances. 


Probable XI


New Zealand: Martin Guptill, Daryl Mitchell, Kane Williamson (c), Glenn Phillips, Tim Seifert (wk), James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Adam Milne, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult


Australia: Aaron Finch (c), David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood