The Crowd Goes Wild: Making history

Daniel Vettori is not only a valuable bowler. He can also win games with the bat. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Missing piece to jigsaw in MCG

Andrew: Does this make sense to you? I want us to beat Australia but to win I want us to play India? That was my feeling before last night's result but now I just don't care that it's settled because it's testament to this team that no matter what situation we're in, it will be okay more often that not. As a cricket fan this week the level of excitement generated has been unprecedented. It's different from 1992 because the mindset is different. To quote a respected member of the Alternative Commentary Collective, the 1992 bowling attack wasn't an "attack", it was a bowling defence.

Mark: Strangely you have made sense about cricket. You see this is what I love about hosting the World Cup - the great unwashed get a solid hosing down in the great vagaries of my great sport. This final is a no-lose situation for us cricket fans in New Zealand. Either way it is good vs evil and either way the thought of losing is awful to take if that actually makes sense to you and either way the opposition is the best or worst it could be.

Andrew: I've been listening and reading from the greats of the game while tuning you out it seems. The MCG is big, really big, but singles and twos aren't the problem with our line-up, the problem for the opposition is trying to contain our batsmen with any one of them down to Daniel Vettori able to play a hand in the win. Predicting who that will be is the biggest problem punters have. The occasion won't overawe them because they're not spooked by big moments and they believe in each other so much that they get confidence from that. Are you confident? You did write that we weren't going to win the Cup in your Herald On Sunday column not so long ago.

Mark: I may have, but as you know I listen carefully to counter argument and often have my opinion swayed. I have been swayed by this Black Caps team. You're right again, I am feeling very uncomfortable with your rightness, don't listen to bully boys like Matthew Hayden, he's the one who thrived on small boundaries. Our lads are far more rounded than flat-track, small-field, block-bashers like Hayden. I'll tell you who to put your money on. Put the house on Ross Taylor to play the match-winner for the Black Caps. He's due and just like Martin Guptill was before he unloaded on the West Indies, Taylor is starting to look more comfortable. He was robbed down the leg side in the semi and forget the runout issues, they only happen because he's always looking to rotate the strike. A Taylor innings is the only missing piece in the Black Caps batting jigsaw and I think that piece will be found in the MCG. Who's your pick?

Andrew: I think it's Kane Williamson's day on Sunday. He was strangely out of sorts on Tuesday and it's a game set up for a genius cricket robot to "ctrl-alt-delete" and reboot to give us a controlled, measured innings between power plays at the very least. I know I'm prone to hyperbole but this is the most important game of cricket we have ever played. There have been historical moments we've gone through as a cricketing nation but only true fans know what and when they are. Sunday is the biggest because the whole country will be watching or at the very least have a passing interest in the result.

No game, no test, no ODI has ever held the country's attention like Sunday's final will and if we win will it be bigger than a Rugby World Cup win? Maybe!

Pros & cons: Who's more likely to win it all? The Phoenix or the Hurricanes?

Pros
Andrew: The Phoenix are the quiet achievers while the Cricket World Cup is on, scurrying out from under a long, drawn-out international window with the Asian Cup, they've finally come back to life and have it all ahead of them with the remaining fixtures. But for me it's the Hurricanes. I need them to win. They are the most maligned franchise in New Zealand rugby, arguably the competition and that's their fault. They've always had the All Blacks but not the team. Now it's coming together with four fighting away wins, they now can capitalise on the groundwork and face what's ahead of them -- mounting expectations. The Hurricanes will win Super Rugby this season because Ma'a Nonu and Conrad Smith don't want to leave losers. The team isn't getting ahead of themselves, the fans are trying not to but this year is their year. But they'll miss Ardie Savea.

Cons
Mark: They are not the most maligned team, it's just you are close to them and we are always hardest on those closest to us. The Blues are the most maligned because everyone knows Auckland is the most important city and want to live here but can't so are jealous and just want to bag the Blues. But I digress. What you have here is a false horizon, a false dawn, a cruel mirage in a desert of despair for Hurricanes fans. You're a house of cards built on the foundation of five easy opponents and poor refereeing against the Highlanders. As for Conrad and Ma'a, those oldies will run out of a steam soon. The Phoenix, however, are the real deal. They have performed against all-comersin the A-League and the players have got better because they have the most successful coach in the history of the league. It's the Phoenix all the way, baby!