Trans-Tasman feud: The stage is set for yet another chapter of the rivalry to enact itself at the

The night before the 2015 World Cup final, Michael Clarke was addressing the Australian team for the last time as white-ball captain. He was to play the most important white-ball game of his life in front of a 90,000-plus crowd at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) and needed to stop a marauding Brendon McCullum to make a statement. “I said to the boys I wanted them to bowl the first few overs as if they were bowling at the death. Almost every ball should be a yorker and we will see what happened thereafter,” said Clarke.

Mitchell Starc responded brilliantly to his captain and in the first over itself the match was sealed with McCullum taken out of the way. A huge Australian crowd had their say that night and the Trans-Tasman derby did not really live up to the expectations.

With New Zealand a much-improved side since then — reigning world Test champions and 2019 World Cup finalists — it is yet another opportunity for Kane Williamson to make his mark on the sport as a great leader of this era.

Both teams finished second in their respective groups and then raised their game a few notches in the semi-finals. In fact, both Australia and New Zealand have pulled off a coup of sorts to make the final. If it was Daryl Mitchell and Jimmy Neesham for New Zealand, it was Marcus Stoinis and Matthew Wade for Australia — men who aren’t really the pin-up stars for their respective teams.

Neither of these teams are star dependent. They possess the depth to stay in the fight.

Australia, the most successful white-ball team ever, have never won a T20 World Cup, while New Zealand are searching for a trophy that will make them the undisputed champions of this era across formats. The stakes are high and a deep dive into both teams leaves us with little to choose from.

For two reasons, however, Australia are slightly ahead. First, Devon Conway’s injury has disturbed New Zealand’s balance a bit. Second, Australia have managed to beat New Zealand in high pressure games in the past and will feel this is yet another opportunity to win the scrap.

Standing against them, however, is the best cricket captain in the world at the moment, Kane Williamson. A man of vision and a hugely effective communicator, Williamson knows the Australians will come hard. He knows individual brilliance might not win him this final. That’s where he is different. He has this ability to make his players step up and each one of them are ready to bring out their ‘A’ game for the captain. In Williamson, New Zealand has a general who will never give up and one who has the respect of the entire dressing room. ‘It is for him’ as they say and each time it is an ICC trophy decider, Williamson has managed to get it right. He is a leadership lesson for every corporate and a business school case study on how to create a winning team.

Frankly, there is very little to choose from. If Australia have Dave Warner back in form, New Zealand will counter with Martin Guptill. It is also Stoinis versus Neesham and Starc versus Boult. Tim Southee has his opposite number in Josh Hazlewood, and Steve Smith and Williamson are very similar players with very similar approaches to the game. As a result, it all boils down to the night. The toss in Dubai is important but with temperatures dropping, it will perhaps not have a telling impact.

The stage is set for yet another chapter of this famous TransTasman rivalry to enact itself at the world stage. And going by history, it could well be a contest that goes down to the wire. Whichever way it goes, the cricket world will have a new T20 world champion tonight.