Australia captain Aaron Finch on Sunday said that their impressive record over New Zealand doesn't matter at all as the Trans-Tasman rivals took the field in Dubai, UAE to decide the winners of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021.
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Finch, 34, won the toss and opted to bowl first in the T20 World Cup final at Dubai International Cricket Stadium. The Aussies are unchanged from their semi-final win against Pakistan, while the Kiwis were forced to make a change with injured Devon Conway making way for Tim Seifert.
"The way we hung in the contest [in the semi-final against Pakistan] and take it deep was crucial for us. [Adam[ Zampa has been superb for a while in the shortest format, and hopefully that will continue," Finch said. "It is a new format, a new team and our record over New Zealand doesn't matter at all."
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This is the second T20 World Cup meeting between Australia and New Zealand. The Kiwis defended 142/8 to win their T20 World Cup 2016 match by eight runs at Dharamsala.
But the Aussies, just like in the other two formats, have an impressive overall head-to-head record against the Kiwis in T20 Internationals. In the previous 14 T20I meetings, Aussies lead the head-to-head record 9-5. In the ODIs, it's 92 to 39 in Australia's favour, with another seven no results. In Test, Australia have won 15 as against New Zealand's three.
Kiwi captain Kane Williamson revealed New Zealand's need to "few small adjustments" for the obvious reason with Conway unavailable.
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The wicketkeeper-batter played crucial knocks against their must-win Super 12 match against Afghanistan and the semi-final against England, scoring 36 not out and 46 respectively. And the 30-year-old injured his right hand in frustration after getting out, stumped in the semis.
"It is a shame that he [Conway] misses but as a team we have to move on and focus on the challenge at hand. Mitch Santner is a world-class operator and it didn't quite work out in the match the other night. We don't want to look too far ahead and we just need to make a few small adjustments," Williamson said.
The Kiwis are playing in their maiden T20 World Cup final after two semi-final defeats in 2007 and 2016. Aussies are also chasing their first title. They were the losing finalist to England in 2010.
