It has never been a case that in a New Zealand-Australia clash, the former is considered favourites. But come to the T20 World Cup 2021 Final and the Kiwis are riding the favourites tag, especially after their form in the tournament and their recent ICC tournaments record. Contrary to that is Australia’s form. World beaters and most dominant side at one point, the Aussies are no more the most feared unit across any format of the game.
This feeling has resonated way back to the older generation of cricketers as well. Former New Zealand opener Bruce Edgar, who scored 102 not out in the infamous 1981 match, where Trevor Chappell bowled an underarm ball at the instruction of brother Greg with the Kiwis needing six runs to tie from the final delivery. Edgar feels that Australia are not what it used to be and therefore Kiwis have the best possible chance to settle scores.
“The Aussies always rated our rugby but never rated our cricket. [Australians would think] ‘We’re better than you guys, simple as that, and we always will be’. Maybe that gap has closed now. The fear factor has gone. It’s a bit like teams playing the All Blacks. It’s equalised a bit more now. It’s time for the Black Caps to settle a score from their experiences in Melbourne in 2015,” Edgar was quoted as saying by Stuff.co.nz.
“The Aussie mentality in the 1980s was ‘we’ll beat anyone in front of us’. That was a team ethos and it’s always been like that with [Ricky] Ponting and [Michael] Clarke and [Adam] Gilchrist. There are now [New Zealand] players with experience and mental toughness that there has not always been there,” added the man who has to his credit 3772 international runs including four hundreds and 22 fifties in 132 innings.
Edgar, 64, went on to say that the image of New Zealand as the little brother is changing and that they might punch above their weight. “The little brother might be boxing above his weight. We’ve been playing some very good cricket for some time across all formats and the Aussies know that” he said.
Talking about the infamous 1981 incident and if that could be avenged, the former selector of the men’s team said, “They’ll bring it up from time to time, but it’s not the focus. I feel we’ve matured as a nation in a way.” However, he concluded by stating that 2015 is recent and might be at the back of the minds of the players.
New Zealand play Australia in the final of the T20 World Cup in Dubai on Sunday 14 November.