The illuminated bails and stumps were a great new addition to this World Cup, although they have featured in T20 matches since 2012. An Australian invention, they are equipped with LEDs that come on in 1/1000th of a second as soon as a ball hits the stumps or the bails are dislodged from the grooves in which they sit. A long cry from the days when an umpire's eyesight and flapping arms were all one had to go with in the matter of decisions. The inventor Bronte EcKermann had promised Dhoni a stump if India won. And despite India's crashing exit in the semifinal, it is almost certain that the stumps will fly back with some of the Indian cricketers.
But as Indians, both residents and visitors, slowly recover from the disappointment of that defeat, both Australia and New Zealand are obviously looking forward to Sunday's final. It is worth keeping in mind that Australia (Population 23 million and spread across over 7 million square kilometers) has been a cricketing country for far longer than New Zealand (Population 4 million spread across just over 2 lakh square kilometers) where it is Rugby that is the more popular sports. To put Australia's size in perspective, it is almost two and a half times the size of India.
But for anyone in New Zealand that grew up playing cricket in their back yards, beating the Aussies has always been the primary goal; a bit like playing cowboys and Indians. Tim Southee is no stranger to this, having referred to Australia as 'big brother' twice in the course of interviews in the lead up. There is always an extra spring in a Kiwi's steps when going out to bat against the Aussies or thundering down the crease to try and get the Aussie top order out in record time.
What Clarke and his men will not like thinking about is the woeful way they were all sent packing for 151 in Auckland by the Black Caps. The Aussies are seeing it as a timely reminder to stay focused and were in fact jolted out of complacency by the loss.