'Friendship off the field with Boult key to on-field success'

New Zealand's new ball bowlers Trent Boult and Tim Southee have proved the old adage "pace bowlers hunt in pairs" to be true with stupendous performances en route their maiden cricket World Cup final and the latter attributes their on-field success to their "deep friendship and bond".

The bowling combination of Boult and Southee has snared 36 wickets between themselves with left-arm swing bowler Boult, accounting for 21 rival batsmen.

Asked about what's the secret of their partnership, Southee said, "I believe the key to our partnership has been our close friendship off the field also. We played a lot of cricket together from age-group (U-19 World Cup in Kuala Lumpur in 2008), domestic to international level. He (Boult) had proved himself in Test and T20 cricket and it was a matter of time before he became permanent fixture in the ODI side.

"He (Boult) had played only 10-odd ODIs before the World Cup but keeps getting better and better."

The 26-year-old Southee, who has picked up 15 wickets from eight games so far, said that playing the final at the MCG is a "dream come true" moment for the entire team.

"As a kid, you dream of either playing for All Blacks or represent Black Caps. It's a dream come true for us. As good as it gets. The guys are excited to live their childhood dreams. Brendon has spoken a lot about our journey in last two months. One big push and it will be remembered for ever. You always dreamt of competing with Australia, even in backyard cricket," said right-arm pace bowler.

Southee also made it clear that even though they have won all their World Cup matches on a relatively small Eden Park ground, the huge size of the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) doesn't bother the Kiwis ahead of Sunday's final.

"We are not too worried about size of the ground. Guys have sort of played all around the world on pretty big grounds and small grounds. We have relatively smaller grounds in New Zealand but Hagley Park in Christchurch is a big ground," said Southee.

Playing at the iconic MCG although is an amazing experience but Southee feels that final will be just another game of cricket.

"We haven't played here (MCG) for a long time but there are a half a dozen of guys in the side who played in the last game for us at this venue. We have good memories from that game. Big cricket grounds, good ground, lot of people but at the end, it's just another game of cricket," said Southee, who looked all excited and eager to perform.

A packed MCG can be pretty imposing but Southee feels the IPL experience of players like McCullum and Corey Anderson would come in handy.

"I believe lot of guys have played in front of big crowds in India and in IPL. Close to 100,000 people, Eden Park is a small ground but crowd is on top of you. Guys will embrace challenge and excitement that comes with it."

The strength of New Zealand's new ball attack is swing but Southee is confident that they have a Plan B in place if the ball doesn't swing.

"A bit of swing will be nice. But if it hasn't swung for us in all game we have managed to find ways to take wickets and that's the beauty of our attack. Variety and swing makes a bit more dangerous," Southee said.

Asked about the the Trans-Tasman rivalry, Southee said, "The rivalry between Australia and New Zealand covers every sport. It is massive."

Southee said that the Black Caps are not at all thinking about their success till now and are solely focussed on Sunday's final.

"Guys have enjoyed and celebrated success and we have moved on. We want to stay in the moment. We are focussed on Sunday's final and only worried about the job in hand."

The fast bowler was happy that New Zealand got to spend a couple of days with their families in the interim which helped everyone recharge their batteries.

"It was an adavantage to get away from everything for a couple of days. The guys have been playing non-stop cricket and it was a welcome break where they got to meet their families and spend time with them," Southee said.

Cricket is like a 'poor younger brother of rugby' but Southee is amazed at the support that they have received from common public.

"I can't explain the support. Cricket is nothing compared to rugby but the manner in which we have got support over the last two months is amazing," he said.

Southee also praised coach Mike Hesson and skipper McCullum's contributions."Hesson and Brendon has done a great job. Certainly that's one of the reasons we are sitting here today. He (Hesson) has turned it around from where we were few years ago. He created an environment and brand of cricket that works for us. Brendon's attacking mindset as a leader also works for the side."