Captain, star batsman and good sport Kane Williamson is a key for the Black Caps in the Cricket World Cup final. Photo / AP
Captain, star batsman and good sport Kane Williamson is a key for the Black Caps in the Cricket World Cup final. Photo / AP
The nation will be on the edge of their seat on Sunday night when Kane Williamson's mighty Black Caps take on hosts England in the Cricket World Cup final.
Whoever wins will write their names into the history books - with neither side ever holding aloft the trophy.
As thecountdown heats up to the big game, the Weekend Herald has revealed the five biggest reasons why the Black Caps should win.
England sporting fans, like these football supporters, are well-versed in disappointment. Let's give them more in the Cricket World Cup final. Photo / New Zealand Herald
If there is a sporting nation that has perfected the choke on the big stage, then it is England. Their football fans continue to hark back to their sole World Cup win in 1966, they've never won the Cricket World Cup and have only managed one Rugby World Cup win in three final appearances. For a nation that harks on about inventing those sports, their record isn't actually that flash. Keep the choke up, old chums.
2: Breaking free
The "motherland" declared British sovereignty over all of New Zealand 179 years ago. While we now rule our own path as a nation, you don't have to spend too long around some British people to endure some long-defunct condescending attitudes to our fine country and our fine people. Win in Sunday's final and let's remind the Colonials who really rules the world.
English fans and media slammed the sandpaper antics of David Warner, left, and Steve Smith, right, but quickly forgot their own team's ball-tampering actions. Photo / AP
3: Good versus evil
English fans and commentators took plenty of perverse pleasure in slamming the Aussie cricket team over "Sandpaper-gate". But let's not forget those pesky Poms aren't immune from employing the dark "arts" to get an edge on the field – including using mints to get the ball to swing more in their historic Ashes triumph over Australia in 2005. Kiwis don't stoop that low, as has been seen by several acts of gracious sportsmanship in the past two Cricket World Cups.
England gave us the Spice Girls - let's give them disappointment in return. Photo / Supplied
4: Cultural cringe
Us proud Kiwis have had to put up with plenty of English "culture" being rammed down our throats over the years – the likes of TV series Emmerdale and EastEnders, and naff bands like the Spice Girls, Take That and Bananarama. Now is the time to make them pay on the sporting arena – and what better a venue than the proclaimed "home of cricket", Lord's.
Australia's win in the 2015 World Cup final, and their boring verbal barbs, are hard to forget. Photo / New Zealand Herald
5: It's our time
There's an olding sporting adage that you have to lose a final to be able to win one. Four years ago the Black Caps suffered heartbreak when they lost the World Cup final to a rampant Australia at the MCG. Many of the players from 2015 are in the squad over in the UK - and four years on, as they showed against India in the semifinal, they are certainly mentally tougher than they were in their first final appearance.
