Both New Zealand and Australia were not among the favourites to win the T20 World Cup but overcame adversity to book their places in the final. The Trans-Tasman rivals will now go head-to-head for a maiden T20 World Cup title, having never won it before. Australia's batting has been powered by David Warner but there are frailties in the Aussie batting camp that were exposed by Pakistani bowlers in the semi-finals and New Zealand will look to do the same. Apart from the spin threat posed by Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner, New Zealand's go-to weapon has been left-arm pacer Trent Boult.
While Boult had a rare off day in the semis against England, going wicketless and giving away 40 runs off his four overs, his record in Dubai makes for an ominous reading for the Australians.
Boult has a brilliant record in Dubai. He has taken 18 wickets in nine T20 matches since 2020 at an average of 13.50 and has a strike rate of 11.30, which includes two maiden overs as well.
To make matters worse for Aaron Finch and his team, the left-armer seems to love bowling against the Aussies. Boult has picked 10 wickets in eight T20Is against Australia, which is the most wickets for him against any team in T20Is.
The New Zealander was taken for plenty by England but this was only the second instance in 11 T20I innings where he failed to pick a wicket. He has picked 18 wickets in 2021 so far at an average of 16.61 and an economy rate of 7.00.
Boult has been on fire in the ongoing T20 World Cup and has been one of the top performers for the Kiwis.
He has taken 11 wickets in this tournament and is the only pacer in this tournament to pick more than 10 wickets till now.
Boult will now be looking to cause havoc against Australia and lead his team to their maiden T20 World Cup title.