Aaron Finch will be eager to see his players restrict New Zealand to a modest total, enabling Australia to pull off a comprehensive win.
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Australia skipper Aaron Finch has opted to field after winning the toss in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2021 final against New Zealand. Finch believes that the nature of the pitch will not change, with the Aussies going in with an unchanged lineup. Williamson admitted that he would have loved to field as well, considering the reasonable wicket. The New Zealand skipper stated that his sole objective would be to ensure a competitive total on the board. Tim Seifert has been included in the lineup by the Kiwis in place of Devon Conway who is injured.
“We’ll have a bowl. Looks a little bit dry but I don’t think it will change. It might skid with the new ball. We’re playing the same team. The way we hung in the contest and take it deep was crucial for us. Zampas has been superb for a while in the shortest format, and hopefully that will continue. It is a new format, a new team and our record over NZ doesn’t matter at all,” said Finch as quoted by Cricbuzz.
Opener David Warner has expressed a desire to deliver the goods with both bat and ball.
“As a collective unit it is all about producing with both ball and bat. In the NZ-ENG game too there were things that went wrong in the fielding department. Looking forward to a nice game. For myself, it is about delivering every time I can. I look to put the team in a good position. I don’t think too much about getting off to a fast start here. The trend here in the powerplay is not high scoring and it is about minimizing damage,” stated Warner.
Williamson backed spinner Mitchell Santner to make his presence felt, having failed to make much of an impact in the semi-final against England.
“We would have fielded as well. It looks like a reasonable wicket and who knows about the dew. Just trying to get a competitive total. We have one obvious change: Conway is out and Seifert is in. It is a shame that he 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,” he said.
Trent Boult expressed an eagerness to take on the Australians in the final.
“It’s what we have come here to achieve and we’re looking forward to taking on the Australians. It has been a good year and a good tournament for us. I wouldn’t say it has swung a heck of a lot but the new ball is important for our side. The golden rule is that you pick wickets in the powerplay. But having said that, we need to adjust to the conditions and the pitch. Conway missing out is a huge loss and understandably there is no one who is more gutted than he is. He has been a huge part of the BlackCaps side. The positive is that it gives someone else the opportunity to step up in his place. We have 15 guys who can do the job,” he said.
Lineups:
New Zealand (Playing XI): Martin Guptill, Daryl Mitchell, Kane Williamson(c), Tim Seifert(w), Glenn Phillips, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Adam Milne, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult.
Australia (Playing XI): David Warner, Aaron Finch(c), Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade(w), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood.
