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Battle of the biffers at Eden Park

D'Arcy Short made his maiden international fifty AFP

The inaugural T20 Tri-Series hasn't been the most competitive of initiatives so far, thanks largely to a lacklustre display from the third wheel in the partnership, England. However, the two finalists, Australia and New Zealand, are in hard-hitting form going into Wednesday's showdown at Auckland.

And not surprisingly, given their fireworks in Friday's group-stage contest against the same opponents, Australia start the match as 4/7 favourites. New Zealand thought they had the game sewn up when they posted a hefty 243 for 6 in their 20 overs, only for David Warner and D'Arcy Short to tear Eden Park to shreds as their team hunted down a world-record chase with seven balls to spare.

As you would expect, both Warner (8/1) and Short (10/1) feature prominently in the Man of the Match stakes, but it is the roundhouse slugging of Chris Lynn (15/2) that is the market leader. That said, New Zealand pack plenty punch of their own in the top order, with Colin Munro (8/1) and Martin Guptill (17/2) both eminently capable to taking a game to the cleaners.

Incidentally, the long-range odds for the 2020 World T20 are worth a glance, especially given how dangerous Australia's shortest-form stars have become in recent weeks - remember they are missing their Test captain Steven Smith and are arguably stronger in his absence. They are currently 11/4 favourites to lift the crown for the first time. England, finalists last time out, are 5/1 with New Zealand lurking at 6/1.