ICC World Cup 2015 Finals: Australia vs New Zealand - Player vs Player stats

Australia and New Zealand will face each other in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015

The road to finals ends here, as Australia and New Zealand face each other in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 finals, with the Aussies vying to lift the coveted trophy for a record fifth-time at Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday. New Zealand, on the other hand, who are still unbeaten in this tournament, will be aiming to lift the World Cup for the first time in their first ever WC finals appearance.

The Kiwis will be raring to go after their successful run chase against South Africa in the semi-finals clash, while the four-time World Champions will be coming into this contest brimming with confidence after defeating the defending champions, India, by 95 runs. 

Both sides started the tournament as early favourites and have maintained their run of form till now, with the Aussies losing only one match in the group stages, against the same opposition whom they are going to face on Sunday. Also, they both possess deep batting line up and a good bowling attack, with Australia having a slight upper hand, as the Kiwis are playing their first match in the Australian ground this tournament.

Here, we have statistically compared the expected playing XIs of both the sides and attempt to judge which team will start the contest as favourites. The winner between each duo has been judged by their World Cup 2015 stats:

Player vs Player Stats

Australia	New Zealand	Who’s Better?
David Warner	Martin Guptill	NZ
Runs – 300; Avg – 50.00; SR – 124.48	Runs – 532; Avg – 76.00; SR – 108.79
Aaron Finch	Brendon McCullum	NZ
Runs – 280; Avg – 40.00; SR – 93.64	Runs – 328 Avg – 41.00; SR – 191.81
Steven Smith	Kane Williamson	AUS
Runs – 346; Avg – 57.66; SR – 94.02	Runs – 222; Avg – 37.00; SR – 83.14
Michael Clarke	Ross Taylor	NZ
Runs – 145; Avg – 29.00; SR – 92.94	Runs – 181; Avg – 30.16; SR – 63.06
Shane Watson	Corey Anderson	NZ
Runs – 206; Avg – 41.20; SR – 107.85 Wickets – 2; Avg – 74.00; RPO – 6.72	Runs – 231; Avg – 38.50; SR – 109.47 Wickets – 14; Avg – 16.21; RPO – 6.45
Glenn Maxwell	Grant Elliot	AUS
Runs – 324; Avg – 64.80; SR – 182.02	Runs – 227; Avg – 37.83; SR – 107.08
Brad Haddin	Luke Ronchi	AUS
Runs – 126; Avg – 42.00; SR – 157.50	Runs – 73; Avg – 14.60; SR – 125.86
James Faulkner	Daniel Vettori	NZ
Runs – 44; Avg – 14.66; SR – 176.00 Wickets – 7; Avg – 23.00; RPO – 4.90	Runs – 41; Avg – 41.00; SR – 164.00 Wickets – 15; Avg – 18.80; RPO – 3.98
Mitchell Johnson	Matt Henry	AUS
Wickets – 12; Avg – 24.66; RPO – 5.43	Wickets – 0; Avg – --; RPO – 5.00
Mitchell Starc	Tim Southee	AUS
Wickets – 20; Avg – 10.20; RPO – 3.65	Wickets – 15; Avg – 27.13; RPO – 5.57
Josh Hazlewood	Trent Boult	NZ
Wickets – 7; Avg – 20.85; RPO – 4.19	Wickets – 21; Avg – 15.76; RPO – 4.41
Australia 5 – 6 New Zealand

NOTE: The lineups mentioned above are predicted teams and might not actually be the XIs that take to the field on Sunday.

Summary:

Home ground advantage, which generally is an intangible factor, will be the decisive factor for the finals. Aussies, indeed are going to start as the favourites and the pressure will be on the Kiwis, but as we saw in their earlier clash, the game is unpredictable. 

The toughest comparison was between Michael Clarke and Ross Taylor, despite his form and because of his higher batting average and total runs in this tournament compared to Aussie captain, the Kiwis gets the upper hand leading 6-5.

It will surely be a tight contest as both of them deserve the trophy. But, the consistent performance from all departments gives New Zealand the edge in this high – voltage clash, to cause an upset and lift their first Cricket World Cup ever.