ICC Champions Trophy final

I'll keep this short. I'd think on form Australia should defeat the kiwis in tonight's final easily.

Granted, there have been upsets in the tournament, but I think $1.38 is a reasonable return.

The New Zealand side relies heavily on its tight fielding to restrict sides below par batting performances. It's then up to their batsmen to be competitive.

Australians have hit form at the right time: Ponting, Watson, Lee, Hussey and Johnson are all handling the South African conditions extraordinarily well.

Anything above $1.30 pre-match is good for mine.

Aussiepunt will be putting a lazy 10% of our bankroll on the Aussies.

ICC Champions Trophy form guide - New Zealand

New Zealand

Form since July:

Won by 103 runs vs India
Lost by 2 wickets vs Warriors (SA)
Lost by 6 wickets vs India
Lost by 97 runs vs Sri Lanka
Lost by 61 runs vs Sri Lanka A

Summary:

The Kiwis are another country which has been starved of ODI cricket since the Twenty20 world cup, and performances haven’t been wonderful despite a confidence-boosting win against India in a warm-up game.

New Zealand has one of the tightest bowling averages in world one-day cricket and is usually superb in the field. The question mark lies over the side’s ability to perform consistently with the bat.

But don’t be surprised if they can spring a surprise couple of wins required to make the semi-finals.