One or two good overs with the ball could prove all the difference at Eden Park, says NZ skipper
Bowlers set to shape final at batting haven
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson says bowling may prove the difference in Wednesday's Twenty20 tri-series final against Australia.
An Eden Park pitch, which could only be described as a batsman's paradise in last Friday's record-breaking clash, and the Auckland ground's short straight boundaries made for plenty of runs the last time the teams played.
Batting first, the Black Caps scored 6-243 on Friday, only for the Australians to hit their 244 target with ease.
Capitalising on Eden Park's straight boundaries - well short of the regulation 59.43 metres - the two sides hit a combined 32 sixes.
Opener Martin Guptill hit nine sixes alone.
And with conditions set to be near-identical in Wednesday's final, Williamson believed another run-fest is on the cards.
"If we look back at that last game, the difference of half an over - or each ball - can be the deciding moment in a game," Williamson said.
"If a bowler does achieve something like that, has an over or two where the game can swing, then I suppose that, if you step back, it's the difference between (bowling) 18 or 19 overs versus an opposition with 20.
"It's a tough art, as we've seen."
Having struggled to make inroads with their pace attack in the loss to Australia and Sunday's defeat to England in Hamilton, Williamson hoped to see the Eden Park wicket turn a little more.
That would help his side's spin bowlers - Mitch Santner, Ish Sodhi and himself - influence the match.
Williamson would also look to mix up his team's strategy in the field.
"You have positions where you go, well, it's going to beat them on the boundary anyway, you might as well use that man somewhere else," he said.
"The third man, at times it went down there but you had to just suck it up a little bit, knowing the fact that, even if he was back, the leading edge or top edge would probably still have gone for a six."
Williamson said the Kiwis were yet to settle on their XI and would do so as close as possible to the start of the match.
It's unlikely to change drastically from the side which lost by two runs to England, with openers Guptill and Colin Munro in solid form and Santner, Sodhi, Trent Boult and Tim Southee to shoulder the bowling duties.
Possible Australia XI: David Warner (c), Aaron Finch, D'Arcy Short, Chris Lynn, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey (wk), Ashton Agar, Andrew Tye, Kane Richardson, Billy Stanlake/Adam Zampa.
Possible New Zealand XI: Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Kane Williamson (c), Mark Chapman, Ross Taylor, Colin de Grandhomme, Tim Seifert (wk), Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult.
Trans-Tasman T20 Tri-Series
First T20I Australia beat New Zealand by seven wickets. Scorecard
Second T20I Australia beat England by five wickets. Scorecard
Third T20I Australia beat England by seven wickets. Scorecard
Fourth T20I New Zealand beat England by 12 runs. Scorecard
Fifth T20I Australia beat New Zealand by five wickets. Scorecard
Sixth T20I England beat New Zealand by 2 runs. Scorecard
Final Australia v NZ, Eden Park, February 21. Scorecard
Australia squad: David Warner (c), Aaron Finch (vc), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Ben Dwarshuis, Travis Head, Chris Lynn, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, D'Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa.
England squad: Eoin Morgan (c), Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Dawid Malan, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, James Vince, David Willey, Mark Wood.
New Zealand squad: Kane Williamson (c), Tom Blundell, Trent Boult, Tom Bruce, Colin de Grandhomme, Martin Guptill, Anaru Kitchen, Colin Munro, Seth Rance, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Ben Wheeler.