Melbourne: 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.
