Watson, who hit a majestic 136 not out in the semifinal win over England here on Friday, played another stellar innings, steering the side to a Cup victory.
The all-rounder, who picked up six wickets from five matches, ended the tournament on a high note with a total of 265 runs after beginning the campaign with two ducks.
He smashed New Zealand spinner Jeetan Patel for two consecutive sixes to complete the Australian victory and his century.
Watson remained not out on 105 from 129 balls, including 10 fours and four sixes. James Hopes was unbeaten on a run-a-ball 22.
A 128-run partnership between Watson and Cameron White was the cornerstone of Australian innings after the New Zealand pacers threatened to pull off an upset, reducing Ricky Ponting’s team to 2-6 at one stage.
New Zealand’s opening attack was outstanding, with Kyle Mills and Shane Bond generating lively pace and movement on a bouncy wicket. Mills had an excellent first spell as he gave away only nine runs in his seven overs, taking one wicket. He returned in the 35th over, when the match was almost sealed by Australia, and cleaned up White for 62. The batsman played a patient knock, hitting seven fours and one six in his 102-ball innings. Mills, later removed Michael Hussey as well, and ended with excellent figures of 3-27.
Bond, the only other bowler who was effective, finished with 1-34. Vettori’s replacement, Patel, gave away 44 runs from his 6.2 overs.
Life was difficult for the batsmen initially, but Watson and White survived the scare, and later opened up to play some delightful shots once they were settled. New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum, after scoring a duck while batting, also dropped White off Ian Butler’s bowling at a crucial time, compounding his woes on the field. In the 18th over, the batsman skied a pull when he was on 15, but McCullum could not take the catch which could have reduced Australia to 41 for three.
Wicketkeeper-cum-opener Tim Paine was the first to go as Bond induced an edge and Taylor took an excellent catch at slips.
Captain Ricky Ponting (1) fell cheaply for the first time in the tournament with Mills trapping him in front of the wicket, raising the prospects of a Kiwi fight-back. But it was not to be.
Earlier, Australia restricted New Zealand to a score of 9-200, on the back of good bowling from Nathan Hauritz and Brett Lee. Hauritz finished with 3-37, while Lee bagged two for 45. Mitchell Johnson and Peter Siddle bowled economically while Watson ended wicket-less.
New Zealand, despite winning the toss and batting first, couldn’t recover from captain Daniel Vettori’s absence due to a hamstring strain.
The major partnerships for New Zealand were a 61-run contribution from Martin Guptill and Aaron Redmond, and another 65-run addition by Neil Broom and James Franklin.
The batsmen couldn’t get going as they kept on losing crucial wickets at regular intervals.
The Black Caps haven’t yet won a match against Australia in the Mini World Cup in four attempts, including the one at Centurion on Monday. The Australian victory margin was 164 runs in Sri Lanka seven years ago, seven wickets in England in 2004 and 34 runs in India three years ago.
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