Australia and New Zealand land in Melbourne for ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 final Trans-Tasman mega clash

Australia and New Zealand land in Melbourne for Trans-Tasman mega clash

Melbourne: The Trans-Tasman rivalry is gradually taking Melbourne by storm as Australia and New Zealand landed in the city ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 final. In sporting country like Australia, a big event is often a commonplace considering their assignments across sports around the year. Though people knew about the event, the craze wasn’t all that apparent. However, with Australia making it into the finals, that has changed as cricket has become the talk of the town. “Did you see Steven Smith’s ton yesterday?” “What do you think of New Zealand’s bowling in these conditions?” were some of the things you could hear people talking about.

On landing in Melbourne, you could see a few New Zealanders making their way into the city. With their team making it for the first time in a World Cup final, the fans wouldn’t want to miss the opportunity of watching their them on the big day. When compared to Australia, the craze in New Zealand was more palpable as there is a general belief that Brendon McCullum’s men have it in them to go all the way. Walking through Melbourne, one could spot few more New Zealand jerseys. A few days ago, the India jerseys would have been the most common sight in cities across Australia. Not any longer. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: SCHEDULE & MATCH DETAILS

Australia landed in Melbourne around noon on Friday and opted to take a break for the day. Having played the semi-final on Thursday and travelled the next morning, it was only fair that they took a break. However, New Zealand have had those two extra days and they were at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Friday. The whole team went through round of fielding drills. Daniel Vettori, the old-warhorse, matched his teammates for every catch or stop. After all, age is just a number, isn’t it? Remember that acrobatic catch during the quarterfinal against the West Indies? Watching him put in the hard yards, one could get a sense of his agility.

Through the tournament, we’ve had long gaps between two games for a particular side. However, Australia have to be up for it in a day’s time. On Saturday, both sides will go through their final preparations for the big day. It all boils down to this game at the MCG! ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Complete Coverage

(Nishad Pai Vaidya is Correspondent with CricketCountry and anchor for the site’s YouTube Channel. His Twitter handle is @nishad_45)