There will be a new name on the trophy when the T20 World Cup 2021 final takes place on Sunday as New Zealand go up against Australia in Dubai as one of these great cricketing nations will hoist the cup for the first time.
Australia have been in a final before but you have to go back 11 years for that. New Zealand have been in 50 over World Cup finals but this is the first time they have made the big dance in this 20 over competition.
New Zealand
New Zealand lost their opening match of the tournament but they have won every match since then. It did look as though there was no shame in losing to Pakistan in that first game but that form took a slight dent in the semi-final when they bit the dust. It looked like New Zealand were going to go the same way the day before when they needed snookers to see off England but they got them and a brutal finish saw them through to their maiden final.
The good thing for New Zealand is they are not lacking in experience even though this is their first T20 World Cup final. Many of the players who will represent them here will have played at Lord’s in the 50 over final a couple of years ago. You sense if New Zealand are to be the champions the match will be decided by their bowlers. They need wickets up front and then they need to bowl well at the death. If they achieve those two aims they will have a chance.
Australia
There weren’t many judges considering Australia as potential title challengers when they arrived in this part of the world for the tournament. There probably weren’t too many more after their third Super 12s match when they were demolished by England having laboured to that point but a switch seemed to be flicked in that defeat. Since then they have thrashed their way to wins in their last two group matches and then came from the clouds to see off Pakistan in the semi-final.
The interesting thing for Australia is that their batting has gone better than many expected here. They have bowled ok in the tournament but you wouldn’t say they have been at their best in that discipline but they have been aggressive with the bat at the top of the order, and the one time they needed their middle order to bail them out that happened. It might be that Australia are bubbling to the fore at the right time and they’ll fancy their chances here.
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Key Men
If New Zealand are going to keep Australia in check you would imagine it will be Trent Boult who will have to do it. He had an ordinary match in the semi-final and the Kiwis can’t afford for their leading wicket taker in the tournament to bowl a fruitless four overs once again.
New Zealand haven’t really impressed playing spin in this tournament so Adam Zampa might be licking his lips at the opportunity to have a big impact in this final. He is the top Australia bowler in this event and could go out in style.
Betting
The two semi-finals pointed out that you are either brave or foolish to bet on the outcome of this final before you know the winner of the toss because even though there will be scoreboard pressure on the team that has to chase for the title, the potential for dew severely skews the likely winner into the team who is chasing. Given that we don’t know the winner of the toss in advance I’ll take one bet from the side markets which comes in the form of the most sixes.
These two sides play the game in a slightly different way in that New Zealand go hard up top and then nudge it around in the hope of setting up a big finish whereas Australia are pretty aggressive throughout their innings and it is that aggression which I think can lead to Australia hitting the most sixes in this match. It is only really Steve Smith in their top seven who isn’t a big six hitter whereas for New Zealand you have Kane Williamson who isn’t a huge six hitter and Tim Seifert comes in for Devon Conway having not played much cricket recently. New Zealand also play the extra bowler which means they can’t go quite as hard so regardless of which wins this final I expect to see Australia hitting the most sixes.
Tips
Back Australia Most 6s for a 3/10 stake at 1.95 with Bet365
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