DHAKA: Australia and New Zealand will face off at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday for the final of the World Cup. While the Aussies will play their fifth title clash, the Kiwis will take part in their maiden World Cup final.
The match will kick off at 9:30am Bangladesh time.
After a month and a half of cricketing battles, the two teams have emerged as the strongest of the lot and will play for the coveted trophy at the MCG.
Australia are settled and firing, and changes to the XI that beat India are unlikely. Likewise for the visitors. McCullum named an unchanged XI on the eve of the game.
Head-to-Head - Played: 126; Australia have won 85 while New Zealand have won 35. Six have produced no results.
In World Cups - Australia have won six of nine matches while the Kiwis have won three matches, including the last time they met in Auckland earlier in this tournament.
Michael Clarke said: "New Zealand have been the form team of the competition. New Zealand have beaten us once in this tournament. But I'm confident if we play our best, we can beat them tomorrow."
"There is no challenge which is insurmountable. With a lot of hard work, lot of heart, a lot of belief, we've made sure that everyone's heading in the same direction. I know tomorrow we'll still remain authentic to how we play. We'll play an aggressive brand of cricket with bat and ball in the field. We'll play with the humility which we've played with throughout this campaign as well. And hopefully the big fella upstairs shines on us when the pressure situations come into play." Brendon McCullum gets all Ben-Hur about his team's approach to the final
Team
Australia (probable)
Aaron Finch, David Warner, Steven Smith, Michael Clarke (capt), Shane Watson, Glenn Maxwell, Brad Haddin (wk), James Faulkner, Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood
New Zealand (probable)
Brendon McCullum (capt), Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Grant Elliott, Corey Anderson, Luke Ronchi (wk), Daniel Vettori, Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Matt Henry
BDST: 0830 HRS, MAR 29, 2015
