Australia vs New Zealand: A look back at nine previous World Cup encounters ahead of ICC Cricket World Cup final

Australia and New Zealand battle it out in the final of ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on March 29. The two teams have faced each other nine times in World Cups with Australia having a 6-3 head-to-head advantage. Pramod Ananth recollects the World Cup encounters between Australia and New Zealand.

Match 12, 1987 World Cup at Indore: It was a must-win game for New Zealand, while Australia were comfortably placed going into this game having win the opening two games of the tournament. It was frustrating for both sets of players as the Sunday on which the match was supposed to be held got washed out. SCORECARD: ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 Final Australia (AUS) vs New Zealand (NZ) at Melbourne

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Rains showed no signs of stopping on Monday either. Skies cleared and both sets of captains were given the option of settling for point. Allan Border and Jeff Crowe decided to play the match with the contest being reduced to 30-overs a side. READ: New Zealand dream of toppling Australia in ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 final

Crowe won the toss and put Australia in. Half-centuries from David Boon, Dean Jones and a 28-ball 34 from Border propelled Australia to 199 for four in 30 Overs. New Zealand got off to an excellent start with Ken Rutherford as John Wright putting on 83 runs for the opening wicket in 12 overs before Simon O’Donnell removed Wright for 47. Australia vs New Zealand 2015 World Cup final: Indian cricket fans to support Blackcaps

O’Donnell then removed Rutherford for 37 and Craig McDermott dismissed Andrew Jones for 15 as New Zealand were reduced to 133 for three. New Zealand kept losing wickets at regular intervals, But Martin Crowe kept one end steady, with New Zealand requiring a mere seven from the final over with six wickets in hand.

Steve Waugh was handed the ball; he dismissed Crowe and Ian Smith off consecutive deliveries. Waugh conceded just three runs from the final four deliveries and gave Australia a memorable  three-run win.

Match 20, 1987 World Cup at Chandigarh: Australia and New Zealand locked horns again in 1987, with Australia once again emerging victorious. Australia had won the toss this time around and Border had no hesitation in batting first. Australia posted 251 for eight from 50 overs, thanks to a century from Geoff Marsh and a half-century from Jones.

New Zealand got off to a decent start, but other than Wright’s 82-ball 61, there weren’t many highlights in the game for New Zealand. A couple of other players in the middle-order got starts, but just could not kick on as New Zealand fell 17 runs short of their target.

Match 1, 1992 World Cup at Auckland: World Cup 1992 was co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand. The first match of the tournament saw the two neighbours clash with each other. After losing both matches in the previous edition, New Zealand were keen to get off the mark against Australia in World Cups.

It started well for them as Martin Crowe had won the toss and elected to bat first. But things did not go according to plan for a brief period after that as New Zealand were reduced to 13 for two early. Rod Latham offered some resistance but Tom Moody trapped him in front for 26.

It was now up to Crowe to play a captain’s knock and get New Zealand out of trouble. His 134-ball century and a 118-run stand with Ken Rutherford for the fourth wicket got New Zealand right back into the game. Crowe remained unbeaten till the end as New Zealand finished at 248 for six in their 50 overs.

Then Crowe unleashed his strategies, opening bowling with Dipak Patel and unleashing a quartet of military-medium bowlers. Boon scored a magnificent century, but did not manage to get any sort of support from the other batsmen. Gavin Larsen was excellent with the ball as he finished with figures of three for 30 in 10 overs that saw New Zealand win by 37 runs.

4th Quarter-final, 1996 World Cup at Madras: Chris Harris’ massive century and Lee Germon’s flamboyant 89 got New Zealand to a highly impressive 286 for nine after the latter had decided to bat.

The show was stolen by Mark Waugh, who scored 110 from 112 deliveries to set up an emphatic six-wicket win and progressed to the semi-final. With the asking rate mounting, Mark Taylor promoted Shane Warne; Warne hit some lusty blows before Steve Waugh and Stuart Law saw Australia home.

10th match, 1999 World Cup at Cardiff: Geoff Allott ripped through the Australian batting line-up, reducing them to 213 for eight in the first innings, after they won the toss and elected to bat first. Darren Lehmann top scored with 76, coming in at No.4.

It certainly was not a walk in the park for New Zealand as they suffered a major setback when they were reduced to 49 for four in the 16th over. Roger Twose (80 not out) and Chris Cairns (60) put on 148 for the fifth wicket and New Zealand got home with five wickets and 28 balls to spare.

47th Match, 2003 World Cup at Port Elizabeth: The match turned out to be the battle between Shane Bond and Brett Lee, two of the fastest bowlers of the era. Bond troubled the batsmen throughout his spell and finished with figures that read 10-2-23-6. New Zealand had Australia on the mat before Michael Bevan and Andy Bichel rescued Australia from being bowled out for a cheap score.

From 84 for seven, Australia reached 208 for nine with Bevan scoring 56 and Bichel finishing with 64. More importantly Australia batted out their entire quota of 50 overs, which looked impossible at one stage.

Then Lee scythed through the New Zealand line-up. Stephen Fleming top scored with 48, but Lee was unstoppable, returning figures of five for 42 from 9.1 overs. In spite of going for over five runs in his opening spell of six overs, he bounced back and tore the heart of the Kiwis with three wickets from 14 balls. New Zealand slumped to an abysmal 112.

47th match, 2007 World Cup at St George’s:  Australia elected to bat first and suffered an early setback when Adam Gilchrist was dismissed early. That did not stop Matthew Hayden from scoring an excellent century. His partnerships with Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke set the tone for the match; a 32-ball 65 by Shane Watson at the death ensured that Australia finished on 348.

Brad Hogg hogged the limelight for Australia with astounding figures of four for 29 in 6.5 overs as Australia bundled New Zealand out for 133 in the 26th over. Peter Fulton top scored with 62 opening the innings.

8th match, 2011 World Cup at Nagpur: Australia put New Zealand in, contributions lower down the order from Nathan McCullum (52) and Daniel Vettori  (44) got New Zealand past the 200-run mark after they were struggling at 73 for six at one stage. Mitchell Johnson was the pick of the bowlers with figures of four for 33 from 9.1 overs.

Australia chased it down with ease as the 133-run opening stand between Brad Haddin and Shane Watson knocked the stuffing out of the Kiwi bowlers. Johnson, not surprisingly, was named Man of the Match. Australia won by seven wickets with 96 balls to spare.

20th match, 2015 World Cup at Auckland: The match turned out to be one of the best encounters in ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. Australia elected to bat first, but were bowled out for 151 in 32.2 overs after being 80 for one, courtesy some excellent bowling from left-arm pacer Trent Boult. It was thanks to some hitting from Brad Haddin that Australia managed to touch the 150-mark. Boult finished with career best figures of five for 27.

Chasing a mere 152 to win, it looked like a formality looking at the way Brendon McCullum got going at the top. He scored a 24-ball 50 with seven fours and three sixes punctuating his innings, but Australia are not a team that who will lay down that easily. They clawed their way back into the game courtesy of a six-wicket haul from Mitchell Starc as Australia fought till the end. But they could not get the final wicket as Kane Williamson struck a six off Patrick Cummins to win a thriller.

It will be yet another battle at MCG, with the right to be World Champions on the line. Considering this will be Michael Clarke’s final ODI game, the entire team will want to win it for him, but a gritty and determined New Zealand team stand in their way. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Complete Coverage

(Pramod Ananth is a reporter at CricketCountry. He has represented Karnataka table tennis under-15, and is a hardcore supporter of Liverpool FC. His Twitter handle is @pramz)