Michael Clarke v Brendon McCullum

It’s the biggest occasion in world cricket and the two captains will set the tone for the match with their on-field planning and man-management. Clarke, playing his last ODI match for Australia, is an aggressive captain, but McCullum takes aggression to an altogether new level.

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Trent Boult/Tim Southee v Aaron Finch/David Warner

A good start will be very important for New Zealand, especially as Australia bat so deep. The Kiwi duo have troubled everyone with their swing bowling, but with reverse swing expected to play a greater role in Melbourne, it would be important for them to adopt and deliver.

Mitchell Starc/Mitchell Johnson v Brendon McCullum

Martin Guptill, with an average of 22.3 against Australia, has struggled his neighbours, and the responsibility will be on captain McCullum to give Kiwis a good start. It would be interesting what strategy he adopts against the Aussie fast bowlers, but in all possibility, it would be continuation of his slam-bang methods.

Steve Smith v Kane Williamson

Williamson may have made just 45 runs when the two teams clashed in the group stage, but those were the all-important ones. The Kiwi batsman had a rare failure in the semi-final, while Smith is the only other No3 batsman in the world who can match Williamson in terms of form and consistency.

Daniel Vettori v Australian middle-order

Vettori, even with his ailing back, has been flying the flag for spinners in this World Cup. Not only has the 36-year-old veteran, pulled out of semi-retirement for this tournament, taken 15 wickets, he has also done a marvelous job of containing batsmen, giving away less than four runs an over despite bowling all his 70.5 overs in the smallish grounds of New Zealand.