Bowlers key in T20 final: NZ's Williamson

New Zealand's performance with the ball could make or break their Twenty20 tri-series final hopes against Australia, captain Kane Williamson says.

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 can only be described as a batsman's paradise, and the Auckland ground's short straight boundaries made for a record-breaking game 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.

Kiwi 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.


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Source: AAP



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