1,464 DAYS.

That’s how long it’ll have been on Saturday since Australia and New Zealand last actually made it onto the field in the coloured clothing. It might have been a while between drinks for the storied trans-Tasman rivalry, but their looming World Cup showdown is shaping up as an absolute corker. The Chappell-Hadlee trophy is even getting a run, going on the line for the first time since the Aussies claimed it in India at the last World Cup.

Here’s five reasons why the first Australia-New Zealand ODI clash in almost four years will have been worth the wait.

THERE WILL BE CARNAGE

media_camera Glenn Maxwell is just one of a host of players capable of clearing the Eden Park fences.

Given the 55-metre straight boundary at Auckland’s Eden Park, you couldn’t begrudge any bowler for invoking backyard cricket’s time honoured ‘six and out’ ruling. Come Saturday it could well be not just the leather flingers in the firing line, with some hefty batting records potentially set to tumble on the postage-stamp sized playing surface.

HAYDEN: EGO COULD KILL OUR TEAM

media_camera Kiwi captain Brendon McCullum looms as the danger man for the Black Caps.

Just take your pick of big-hitters from either XI to give those numbers a nudge too. Warner, Finch, Watson, Maxwell and Taylor, Anderson and Ronchi are all more than capable of putting a six-sticher into orbit. But for us it’s the big Kiwi Kahuna Brendon McCullum who poses the most danger to the health of bowlers and unsuspecting patrons alike. Of the 77 the Black Caps skipper belted from just 25 balls against England last Friday, an astonishing 74 of those, or 96 per cent, came in boundaries.

THERE WILL BE ARGY, MOST LIKELY BARGY

It hasn’t taken long for the Kiwis to wind up the theatrics this week, with rugby and sports presenter for New Zealand’s 3 News Hamish McKay digging up the dirt from the infamous 1981 underarm incident for the umpteenth time in trans-Tasman history. McKay has a crack on the 3news website, declaring that while the developing alleged cocaine scandal involving the Gold Coast Titans is a dark day in Aussie sport, it still pales in comparison to Trevor Chappell’s tenpin bowling at the behest of brother Greg with the Kiwis needing a six to tie a World Series game some 34 years ago.

AUSTRALIA PREARING TO MAKE THE MOST OF SHORT BOUNDARIES

Throw in Corey Anderson’s musings on Tuesday that Australia will likely throw a few verbals their way in the field, not to mention the propensity of Warner, Clarke, Haddin and co to do exactly that, and batting fireworks aren’t the only pyrotechnics we can expect to see.

“Their sledging tactics are well known now and something we haven’t involved ourselves in,” Anderson said.

“We’re fairly neutral on the field. We stick to what we do. We’ll be expecting a bit of heat from them and I guess that’s part of their game plan and we’ll just deal with it as it comes.”

THESE ARE THE TWO FORM TEAMS IN WORLD CRICKET

media_camera Tim Southee is one of the form men in world cricket at the moment.

In the past whenever the Black Caps have pinched a win over their big Australian brother it’s been met with genuine surprise on the Kiwi side of the ditch, and sincere horror on the Aussie end. But coming into this clash New Zealand couldn’t be in better form, and are not so much Cup dark horses as an out and out second favourites behind the Australians. They’ve won five on the trot, nine of their last 11 completed matches and are scoring more runs faster than anyone else in the world. Their overall run rate of 6.1 runs per over in 2015 is the best in the world, and the last four times they’ve batted first the Kiwis have averaged a whopping 344 from their allotted 50 overs.

media_camera Aaron Finch, boasting a last-start hundred against England, also comes into the clash with plenty of form under the belt.

Not that the men in green and gold have been slumming it in the form stakes either. The Aussies are currently on an eight-game winning streak and have dropped just one of their last 13 games in the coloured pyjamas. They’ve also built a handy record when it comes to putting runs on the board, with six scores in excess of 300 in the 18 times they’ve batted, at a rate of once every three times they go to wicket.

NO GAME TIME, NO WORRIES FOR AUSSIES

BATTING FIRST DOESN’T NECESSARILY MEAN YOU’VE GOT THE CHOCOLATES

So far the game plan for this World Cup has been as follows; bat first, rack up a score of 300+ and let the scoreboard beat your opposition into submission. But when it comes to chasing big scores, the Aussies have form on both sides of the coin, which means a huge first innings score from either side won’t mean this game is run and done at the innings break.

media_camera New Zealand’s Ross Taylor.

Six of the eight largest chases in ODI history, including the world record by South Africa when they reeled in the 434 set by Ricky Ponting’s boys in Johannesburg, have been made against Australia in the past eight years. And the Kiwis have been responsible for two of those, with successive chases of 336 and 346 in the space of two days being made in 2007. The first of those came at the very same Eden Park where they’ll renew acquaintances on Saturday, when Ross Taylor hit 117 and the Black Caps coasted home with a lazy eight balls to spare.

The Aussies will also be backing themselves to track down a hefty total should the Kiwis get first use of Eden Park’s batting paradise, having been successful in their last six straight chases. There’s been some big ones in among those recent victories too, most notably the 303 set by England in Hobart that was achieved with one ball remaining, and the 267 and 275 they chased down against South Africa’s much-vaunted attack in November.

WHEN HAVEN’T THESE TWO TEAMS BEEN ENTERTAINING?

media_camera Michael Bevan during his match-winning 102* against New Zealand at the MCG in 2002.

Be it the infamous underarm incident, a Martin Crowe ton scored on one leg or a text book Michael Bevan rescue job at the MCG in 2002, the trans-Tasman rivalry has produced some of the greatest matches, individual performances and controversies the one-day game has seen. And never ones to be left out of a good time, the Kiwis crowds can usually be counted on to liven up proceedings as well. Just ask former Aussie all-rounder Greg Matthews, who had to dodge a toilet seat that was flung from the stands in Dunedin, or Bevan, who upon hearing a dull thud turned to see a frozen, fully intact flounder next to him.