David Leggat: Result a fair reflection

No arguments. The far better team won the Champions Trophy final today.

Australia's six-wicket win, with 28 balls up their sleeve, was emphatic. New Zealand finished the tournament with a patched-up side shorn of at least three first-choice players.

They have been riddled by injury mishaps through the tournament, and capped it off with having hugely influential captain Dan Vettori ruled out by a hamstring injury on the morning of the match.

Given that backdrop, New Zealand needed to play out of their skins and have a fair number of the 50-50 moments go their way. Neither happened at Centurion.

Their 200 for nine, having won the toss, was nowhere near enough on a pitch which required some care but played well enough. Australia's fast-medium bowlers put an early squeeze on New Zealand's innings and kept a sure grip on proceedings from then on.

Kyle Mills and Shane Bond prized open the door with superb new ball bowling at the start of Australia's innings. At six for two, with Australia's captain Ricky Ponting gone, there was a chance. But it needed the support acts to do their bit after Mills and Bond took their rest.

They weren't good enough as Shane Watson, reaching his century with consecutive sixes off offspinner Jeetan Patel, steered Australia home.

A crucial moment? Cameron White, who shared the decisive third-wicket stand of 128, top edged a pull shot at Ian Butler. It skied behind stand-in captain Brendon McCullum and he spilled it. It was the sort of catch the men who wear the big gloves, make at least eight times out of 10.

It capped a horror match for McCullum, who managed a 14-ball duck at the start of New Zealand's innings.

For New Zealand to succeed, they needed at least 250. McCullum was crucial to that.

Martin Guptill and Aaron Redmond got New Zealand's innings moving before Redmond played a crass shot, Guptill slapped a return catch back to tidy offspinner Nathan Hauritz, key batsman Ross Taylor drove loosely outside off stump and Grant Elliott, the other important middle order figure, went lbw cheaply.

Once Neil Broom and James Franklin, having shared a 65-run stand to re-open the possibility of putting up a competitive total, were gone, it was Australia's match to lose.

So how should New Zealand view the tournament - with satisfaction at making the final, or bitter dejection at missing a chance for a rare trophy from a multi-national event?

A bit of the first, given their injury setbacks, but primarily the second emotion will have hung over the dressing room. These opportunities don't come round often for New Zealand teams and must be grasped. Bottom line? Australia were the best team at the Champions Trophy, But New Zealand can reflect on a job well done to make the final, and start off a busy international season on an encouraging note.