World Cup History: Top three Australia vs New Zealand clashes
The clash of the Trans-Tasman rivals has always entertained the fans. Both the teams are known for producing quality fast bowlers. Right from the likes of all-time greats Richard Haldee and Dennis Lillee to the medieval sensations Brett Lee and Shane Bond till the modern day maestros Trent Boult and Mitchell Starc, the two nations have been home to the greatest pacers.
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Australia and New Zealand have battled 10 times at the mega-event of world cricket. The five-time winners enjoy a 7-3 head to head record over New Zealand. Here's a look at the top 3 World Cup clashes between the two teams.
#3 Match 12, 1987 World Cup
The two teams met in the group stage of the last ever 60-over World Cup but because of rain in Indore, the match was pushed to the reserve day. Only a 30-over game was possible that day and the Australians played a T20 like game in the first innings. They posted 199/4 on the board thanks to half-centuries from David Boon and Dean Jones.
In reply, John Wright and Martin Crowe led the Kiwi team towards the target but in the end, they fell short by just 3 runs as Australia prevailed in the nail-biting encounter. New Zealand's captain Jeff Crowe played a very slow innings of 3(10) which proved to be a negative for his side eventually.
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The sides collided once again in the 1987 World Cup but the second match was largely dominated by the Australians as they won the match by 17 runs.