Ben on...tri-series anticipation

Stuff is previewing the tri-series. The article updates the state of the NZ team, assesses the squads of the three participants and includes a history of NZ in the tri-series, which I am copying below. This history was great for reminding me of the Black Caps' triumphs in Australia; some of the best cricket I have ever seen has been in past instalments of this series. The history also shows that NZ is pretty good at keeping England out of the finals.

New Zealand's history in the VB (now Commonwealth Bank) series:

1980-81
Winners Australia 3-1
Runners-up New Zealand
3rd side India
The series Trevor Chappell bowled underarm to Brian McKechnie with New Zealand needing six to win off the last ball. The man who instructed him to do that - his brother Greg - won the Player of the Series.

1982-83
Winners Australia 2-0
Runners-up New Zealand
3rd side England
New Zealand won preliminary stage courtesy of five straight wins. But the two finals were disappointingly one-sided as Australia won by six wickets and 149 runs.

1985-86
Winners Australia 2-0
Runners-up India
3rd side New Zealand
New Zealand would have been in the final had their batting not collapsed in the latter stages leading to them losing their last two games.

1987-88
Winners Australia 2-0
Runners-up New Zealand
3rd side Sri Lanka
Australia won the final easily, and their only defeat in 10 matches was by one run to New Zealand in the second game.

1990-91
Winners Australia 2-0
Runners-up New Zealand
3rd side England
New Zealand were a distant second to the hosts and in the finals never threatened an upset.

1993-94
Winners Australia
Runners-up South Africa
3rd side New Zealand
Best tournament to date. Any permutation of finalists was possible with two matches to go, but Australia bounced back from defeat by South Africa to beat New Zealand in the last game.

1997-98
Winners Australia 2-1
Runners-up South Africa
3rd side New Zealand
New Zealand never in the hunt. Australia, for the first time, fielded a specialist one-day team; Mark Taylor and Ian Healy, both mainstays in the Test side, were axed, and Steve Waugh became captain.

2001-02
Winners South Africa 2-0
Runners-up New Zealand
3rd side Australia
Australia failed to make their own final for just the third time in 23 years. Shane Bond took 21 wickets. Having done all the hard work, New Zealand left their worst performance for when it mattered most: crumbling for 190 against South Africa in the first final.