Jacob Oram wants Kiwis to be 'mentally' prepared to face 'intimidating' Oz crowd during WC final

Former New Zealand all-rounder Jacob Oram believes that Brendon McCullum's men should be mentally prepared to face the intimidating Australian crowd on Sunday, insisting that his country's squad is capable of defeating Michael Clarke's men to clinch their maiden World Cup trophy.

Commenting on the threat posed by the MCG crowd, Oram opined that the biggest battle for the Black Caps would be the mental challenge, adding that they would all be nervous but they need to find a way to control those nerves and try to play their natural game, News.com.au reported.

Oram further said that McCullum's men have talked about the final being 'just another game' and staying in the zone, however, he insisted that it is a difficult thing to achieve when 90,000 people are going nuts and it comes down to the wire.

Oram maintained that there is a reason New Zealand have made it to the final and they need to continue to play the way they have.

The former all-rounder observed that New Zealand should go in as slight favourites if they play to their ability.

Earlier in the tournament, New Zealand had beaten Australia by one wicket in a pulsating group stage thriller in Auckland.