T20 World Cup 2021

The closest Australia came to winning the T20 World Cup was during the 2010 edition held in the West Indies, where they lost to England by seven wickets. "It's one that's eluded us in the past, and the fact that we are here in the final gives us the best opportunity to rectify that. Yeah, I think it will be a great game against New Zealand. They are a great side and they have been in all the finals over the last six years. Looking forward to it," said Finch ahead of the title clash.

"It would be some achievement. But where it stands at the moment is there's a game of cricket to play. For us, it's focusing on that and focusing on our cricket and looking to go out there and implement those things that are important to us. So that is very much where we are at the moment. But these sorts of events are always in focus I suppose on the calendar and there's a really exciting opportunity to be here now.

"I think the New Zealand side, they have got a huge amount of quality and they have shown that over a long period of time now. I think they have been the best Power-play performing team with the ball in this tournament, so that's going to be a challenge," said Finch while replying to a query from IANS in the pre-final press conference on Saturday.

Whoever wins on Sunday will clinch their maiden silverware in the format. Australia was in the fair distance to win the 2010 edition, only for England to place them second-best. Now, Australia has got the chance to go one step further against first-time finalists New Zealand in a rematch of the 2015 Cricket World Cup final.

"Mujhe khelna hai. Team ke saath rehna hai (I want to play and be with the team)," Rizwan used to say to doctors who treated him in the ICU. The Pakistan top-order batsman, who played a stunning innings against the mighty Australians in the semifinal of the ICC T20 World Cup, had joined the team after fighting a severe chest infection and being treated in the ICU.

It is the third straight ICC final they have made across three formats, having clinched the inaugural World Test Championship title earlier this year and finished runners-up in the 2019 Cricket World Cup. They were also runners up in 2015, giving them a run of three World Cup finals across four limited-overs competitions, with the 2016 T20 World Cup the outlier.

In 2010 in the West Indies, it was Michael Hussey who, with the help of six sixes in his unbeaten 24-ball 60, achieved an almost improbable task of chasing Pakistan's score of 191 in the semifinal played at Gros Islet, winning by three wickets with just one ball remaining.

Fantastic fifties by Mohammad Rizwan (67 off 52) and Fakhar Zaman (55 off 32) powered Pakistan to 176-4. Apart from Rizwan and Zaman, Babar Azam (39 off 34) also made valuable contributions with the bat for Pakistan while Mitchell Starc (2/38) was the most successful bowler for Australia.

The duo helped the Black Caps in changing the course of the semi-final match against England. New Zealand took only 19 overs to chase the target of 167 and managed to beat England by five wickets in the first semi-final of the T20 World Cup that was played at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium.

Morgan is bidding to lead his side to their third successive ICC final, but will have to do without opener Jason Roy after he pulled his calf against South Africa, adding to an injury list that already includes Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes, Tymal Mills and Sam Curran. Morgan captained England to glory against the Black Caps on home soil in the final of the 50-over World Cup in 2019 and also got the better of New Zealand in the semifinal of the ICC T20 World Cup 2016, before losing to the West Indies in the final.