Sporting An Opinion

Australia won the World Cup for a third successive time and congratulations to them. But we aren’t referring to that when we say ‘deserving end’. We refer to the unfortunate scenes at the end of the match when no one knew what was going on. The umpires were just short of telling Australia not to celebrate since technically they could have come back on Sunday to complete the remaining three overs while Australia was intent on celebrating a convincing win. In the end, though, it simply highlighted the ICCs two-faced nature. In short, the tournament got the shoddy end it deserved.

On the one side, the ICC wants cricket to improve by popularising it, they are also raking in more money than ever before but the paying public remains in the dark about how the game is run. Never mind how it’s run off the field, one would think that the ICC would not be so stuck in the old times that they would not even alter the playing conditions and rules. With just three overs left, it should have been the opposing captains’ or at least the match referee’s call to end the match. There was no way Sri Lanka was going to score 74 runs in 3 overs!

Once again, though, what will happen is most people would say that’s the past now and let’s look ahead, but things don’t change that easily with the ICC. Don’t be surprised if a similar scene is played out sometime in the future.

Moving to the cricket, there is much debate around at the moment about Australia’s dominance and whether it is good for the game. Of course not. No monopoly has ever benefited more than one entity. But in the case of Australia, it isn’t a monopoly. There is no rule that says another team cannot be as good as or better than Australia. There are eight potential teams who can be as good, but they don’t do the right things. It is not Australia’s fault that the other teams are so bad!

Sri Lanka would like to argue that they aren’t as bad, and it was one innings by Adam Gilchrist that took the game away from them. New Zealand would argue they aren’t as bad and it was just a good innings from Mahela Jayawardene that cost them. And the argument would continue until Ireland said they are not so bad, it was just six good teams that beat them! You get the point!

The 2007 World Cup may just be voted the worst of all till date. It was long, boring and never really got going. The flavour of the West Indies was missing and the ticket costs were prohibitive to ensure full stands – something that should be a given throughout the World Cup. A lot of work has to be done before 2011, but one thing that won’t happen is empty stands!

There were 16 teams when the tournament kicked off about a month-and-a-half ago (yes, it’s been that long) and now stand the final two. Yet another Australia versus a subcontinent team final. This is a plot that has been played out since 1996 and a team from the subcontinent has made the final on the last six of seven occasions (1987 being the only exception). It is the last four World Cups that would interest us at the moment.

Starting 1996, the dominance of Australia has been on the rise and it was only an upstart Sri Lankan team that stopped Australia short of lifting the Cup. But in 1999, Pakistan could not repeat that and in 2003, India failed miserably. An Australian win on Saturday would complete the trilogy so to speak after which they may ride away into the sunset of cricketing excellence. But that’s no fun. It will be more fun if Sri Lanka can win and challenge Australia’s dominance while the best Australian outfit is still around.

Man to man, these teams are perhaps the best matched. Sri Lanka may in fact have a couple of players over the Aussies. The exciting part to look for in the final (if the part is indeed played out) will be the battle between the Sri Lankan bowling and the Australian middle order. Sri Lanka, in fact, may be the only team with enough firepower to stop the Australian top three. And they will definitely need to be stopped if Sri Lanka wants any hopes of winning.

In Mahela Jayawardene and Ricky Ponting, there will be two of the best captains of the tournament facing off and each of them is backed by an outstanding unit with good batting and great bowling. Sri Lanka’s worries will lie in their top order batting. Upul Tharanga made a difference in the semi-final but he is just as enigmatic as his senior partner Sanath Jayasuriya. Both are just as liable to fail early on and this could affect the Sri Lankan chances whether they bat first or second. It is, however, too late to get Marvan Atapattu into the team just for the final. Not to mention unfair on an in-form Tharanga!

Barbados will finally see the sun set on this never-ending World Cup. Will the sun also set on the Australian reign of eight years? Over to you, Sri Lanka…

In all preceding World Cups, a captain’s good form has often an indicator of whether a team could win the tournament or not. In 1987, Allan Border led the way; in 1992, Imran Khan was at the forefront, in 1996, Arjuna Ranatunga was there right at the end while in 1999 Steve Waugh had a defining moment. In 2003, Ricky Ponting was the centurion in the final and in 2007, we had four captains, all in the semi-finals, in fine touch. One of them has now fallen (away) but the other three are still there to fight.

Of these three, one more shall fall today. Graeme Smith is young, brash and to a large extent, greatly talented. He has what it takes to play against Australia, but he may be missing what is needed to win against them. Ricky Ponting, on the other hand, is a captain who has never lost in the World Cup and he isn’t about to let that record go now! Aiming for his second straight final and a shot at becoming only the second captain ever to win two World Cups after Clive Lloyd (1975 and 1979), he is a man on a mission and in the best form he has been in for a long time. In fact, his form has not dipped over the last few years!

Facing off today, these two captains will rewrite history no matter what. An Australian loss could trigger a change in the world order of cricket, while a South African loss will get Australia closer to that third consecutive title. Like we said before, South Africa has the team, the players, but they suffer from no mental strength and conviction to proceed any further.

There will be a lot of players on both sides who may hang up their boots after their World Cup is over. For players like Shaun Pollock, Jacques Kallis, Herschelle Gibbs and Mark Boucher, there is also the ghost of 1999 to exorcise. Whether they are thinking about that or not (and they claim not to), it will be a tool Australia will use against them come game time. For some players like Adam Gilchrist who don’t know what it’s like not to win a World Cup, a loss could indeed be shattering. He has been in the Australian World Cup team since 1999, a loss in the tournament is unheard of. In fact, he has lost only two matches in three World Cups and while some may argue that it’s unfair and it will level out sooner or later, the fact is it may not happen this time.

There is a lot that is going for an Australian win at the moment and South Africa are the underdogs. They should make use of that situation and play naturally without undue pressure. Even if many believe that only South Africa could beat Australia, the cannot think of this once they are on the field. A good semi-final is promised again, but let’s hope it isn’t as one-sided as the first one.

After everything that has been said, done, won, lost, it all comes down to two good days. Forget the last month-and-a-half. Congratulations to the four semi-finalists. Now, do they have the stomach for two more outstanding performances?

And outstanding is what is required. New Zealand takes on Sri Lanka today and in a perfect match-up, Muttiah Muralitharan will be the biggest threat to New Zealand’s slightly spin-scared batsmen. For Sri Lanka, they need to watch out for the big man, Shane Bond.

The last two World Cups threw up some badly one-sided semi-finals and finals. Apart from the legendary Australia versus South Africa semi-final in 1999, there haven’t been too many good matches at this stage since almost 1996. But one gets the feeling that this time, there will be more fight in both the semi-finals and the final.

For one of the two teams today, it will be goodbye. But that will perhaps not be because they played badly. It could be more because they were overwhelmed by the occasion and could not handle the big match pressure. Sri Lanka and New Zealand have had relatively easy routes to the semi-final unlike South Africa who really had to fight it out. So if any team cannot handle the pressure, it could be one of these two.

Sri Lanka and New Zealand are perhaps the best-matched teams of the tournament. They both won five of their seven Super Eight matches; both lost a game to Australia (well, who didn’t?) and while Sri Lanka beat New Zealand in their match, that probably won’t count for much in the semi-final where the stakes are so much higher.

It is rather tough to pick out a winner from these two since both have a good batting and bowling line-up. But on the topic of who would want to chase, one has to think it’s Sri Lanka. They have a slightly better defined batting order and New Zealand would fancy their chances of restricting Sri Lanka to a manageable total. On the question of what is a manageable total, it’s tough to say.

The curator of the Sabina Park in Jamaica thinks the team winning the toss should bowl first which indicates the presence of moisture and assistance to bowlers early on. This could also mean that the target the team batting first sets won’t be in excess of 300. But as we have seen throughout the World Cup, the team batting first can get steamrolled in the second session if their total is not competitive.

Once again, we won’t hazard a guess about the winner. It’s come down to the final four and in five days, there may be a new World Champion. The battle begins today.

Australia and New Zealand are perhaps the two best teams in the tournament at the moment. Sri Lanka hurt themselves when they lost so badly to Australia. And they are not entirely out of the clutches of the Aussies just yet. New Zealand plays the world champs today and if they win well enough to have a better net run rate than the Australians, they could well top the group and leave Sri Lanka to face Australia in the semis.

Australia is not known to be afraid of any team, but in a stage like the semi-final, one bad day is all they need to be knocked out. And they may want to especially avoid the South Africans. For today’s match, though, New Zealand will do well not to lose badly. Not to sound defeatist, but the Australians are looking far too strong for absolutely anyone and despite the recent control the Kiwis have over the Aussies, it will take much more to beat the Australians in the World Cup; it’s not been done since 1999!

New Zealand has had a slightly tough time up the batting order and would do well to sort out that issue asap! Scott Styris, their best batsman, also would like to have some more runs on the board when he comes in to bat and even if these runs are not scored at a lightning rate, it would be important that New Zealand preserve wickets for an assault later.

As for the Kiwi bowling, they would do well to pick up some early wickets. Especially Hayden and/or Gilchrist. Even if one of them gets away, it can be fatal! The game would be very interesting since neither team would want to give away too much in terms of strategy or weakness! It will be a bit of a game of poker in addition to the cricket and since both teams will play at full strength, the mind games would be really interesting.

Ponting versus Fleming; the two best tacticians in the game will be at full tilt. And the last time New Zealand beat Australia, Ponting wasn’t there. So there’s another score to be settled.

It is possible that Australia doesn’t finish the Super Eight on top. Of course, at the moment it is a theoretical possibility. But if anyone can beat Australia, it is one of their next two opponents Sri Lanka or New Zealand. And Australia would be well aware of this fact. Sri Lanka has played some outstanding cricket so far barring the one loss to South Africa and they have the bowling firepower and variety to take the fight to Australia.

Australia has also played high-class cricket but they have not been tested so far. Their top order has sure fired with Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden in good form and Ricky Ponting is always a real threat. But thereafter, it does look a little slim. Missing are stalwarts like Damien Martyn and Michael Bevan or even Ian Harvey. Michael Clarke is reliable but can be put under pressure and Mike Hussey has struggled all through the tournament. Andrew Symonds is just returning from injury and has not looked good enough against quality bowling. Brad Hodge, one would think, is a good player to have in the side and he was in very good form too when he was dropped for Symonds. Bringing him in over Hussey or Symonds could strengthen the middle order for Australia.

This weak middle order is exactly what Sri Lanka will target with their variety of bowlers! To get to the middle order of course, they need to knock over the top two first and they will hope Chaminda Vaas continues his habit of a wicket in the opening spell. Lasith Malinga is a doubtful starter but even without him, they have enough quick bowlers to trouble the best of batting line-ups. And then there’s Murali.

Another aspect the Aussies would have to watch out for is superior Sri Lankan fielding. So far, they have only played South Africa with fielding that is comparable but now, they are up against a really world class outfit that can match them man to man. Australia would also have to worry about inexperience in the bowling. Shaun Tait is someone who could well be taken apart by the likes of Jayasuriya, Sangakkara and the ‘now back in form’ Mahela Jayawardene.

The Grenada pitch does offer some bounce and movement early on and neither team would be too keen to bat first. Let’s hope the toss doesn’t decide the winner.

Two years ago, Bangladesh shocked the world by beating Australia in an ODI. Today, they would be hoping for a similar performance but Australia on current form is the runaway favourite! There are conflicting signals coming from both camps with Ponting dismissing any lack of focus or intensity while Bangla captain Habibul Bashar says that the Bangladeshi gameplan is not dependent on Australia! Strange as that sounds, it may be best for Bangladesh to play their own game!

The Bangladesh team has shown some good batting prowess in the tournament so far and they need to be clear about their plan. Bat first or second, they cannot afford to lose early wickets. At the same time, they also cannot afford to let the Australian bowlers get on top and contain the scoring rate for the pressure created by this would only lead to wickets and eventual annihilation!

Australia at the moment are looking and playing the part of being world champions and Bangladesh is perhaps too small to stand up to them. Heck, even South Africa couldn’t manage that! So long as Australia doesn’t play suicidal, they should win on a canter. But then again, Bangladesh has beaten India and is in the Super Eight at their cost. This could also be a good opportunity for Australia to give some of the other members in the squad a chance. Mike Hussey could use the opportunity to come higher up the order and get a chance to face some more bowling. Andrew Symonds could also use the opportunity to spend some more time in the middle with the bat.

Can Bangladesh even stem the flow of records? In the last six matches, Australia has scored in excess of 300 every time they have batted. If they bat first again, 350-400 is possible. Chasing that down would be nigh impossible for Bangladesh. Their bowling does have some teeth, but not enough to cut through the strong Aussie batting. Masrafe Mortaza would be their best bet for a good start and they do have a couple of handy spinners to make good of a start.

What is Bangladesh’s best result? A win of course, but if they lose (which they most likely will), a margin of under 50 would do them great deal of good. Even South Africa could not bring down the margin of loss to under 50!

The West Indies have to back themselves to score the 323 runs since the reserve day would now be used and they will also get similar conditions to bat in. The bowling may be better than their own but the real difference will be whether anyone can play a really big innings like Hayden did.

In the second Super Eight match, Sri Lanka plays South Africa and the South Africans would be desperate to win today since they have no points to their credit at the start of the Super Eight having lost to Australia in their last match. Sri Lanka, on the other hand are upbeat after their win over India and will be a tough team to beat. Picking a winner in this one would be rather tough, but one would have to say Sri Lanka thanks to the match winners like Muttiah Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas and Sanath Jayasuriya in their ranks.

South Africa has played well, but the bowling is one-dimensional at best and if Ntini fails to take early wickets, there is a chance the opposition could just run away to a huge score like Australia did. And a batting line-up like Sri Lanka just needs to ensure there are no early wickets lost.

South Africa will seem favourites on paper, but the Sri Lankan juggernaut looks good enough to roll on all the way. Sangakkara may have missed out in the last match, but he is good enough to recover quickly.

For South Africa, it’s important that Gibbs and Kallis return to form as quickly as possible. Smith can’t continue to keep the batting going on his own for too long. Kallis has shown glimpses of what he can do but against the big boys, it will be even more important that he performs.

An exciting match on the cards as will all matches coming up. Let’s hope the weather can stay clear.

Australia takes on the West Indies today in the opening Super Eight fixture and the World Cup is truly underway now. Brian Lara is keyed up for his team’s key clash against the reigning champions and today’s performance from the Aussies will be the first indicator whether they still have the fire to complete their hat-trick.

The Aussie tactics over the years have been clear and they are known to target the main player of the opposition. But Brian Lara is not one to be disturbed by such announcements. He has seen it all in his 15-plus years of playing international cricket. “It is the thing that actually drives me - that the opposition is going to come after the so called key player,” said Lara referring to the Australian tactics.

Today’s match should be an interesting one since the Australian bowling and West Indian batting are both slightly under par! Australia is relying heavily on Glenn McGrath and Nathan Bracken and hoping others play their part while the West Indian batting depends on Lara, Chanderpaul and Gayle. Two of the three are out of form at last count!

Writing off the Windies, though, would be foolish. They are a determined and talented bunch and have recovered from a hiding at the hands of India in the warm-up game. And now, having seen India crumble out after that performance would have given them even greater confidence.

Australia has so far looked the part of being the World Champion. They have won all their matches convincingly and barring a spectacular loss of form, should win easily. For today’s match, though, they may need to start slightly circumspect considering the opposition is neither Scotland now Holland! It didn’t matter really even when the opposition was South Africa!

Ricky Ponting has begun the mental games in all earnest but Brian Lara is not biting yet. What the team strategies would be will depend largely on the pitch conditions but one does expect the West Indies to bowl first and make any use of the morning conditions possible.

After two weeks of lead-up, this is the real thing. Four weeks to go for a (new?) world champion to be crowned.

The first two weeks of the World Cup were expected to be an extended practice session but have instead thrown out two big names: India and Pakistan. And in their place come Bangladesh and Ireland who may not give the big six any trouble, but rather just the odd scare! So with the major six teams virtually guaranteed two wins in the Super Eight, it really comes down to who can hold their own against the rest! Let’s look at all the contenders (yes, all eight!).

Australia: Still the favourites and especially after their win over South Africa, their chances look better than ever. Can anyone beat them? New Zealand has shown the aptitude but that was at home. England beat Australia in Australia, but since then, they have had problems of their own. South Africa is expected to beat them and maybe on a bigger ground, could well do so. Sri Lanka is in good enough form to beat anyone, but against Australia, it’s more a question of confidence than skill. At the moment, a spot in the final looks assured! Team Australia

South Africa: They may not have lived up to their number one billing against Australia, but they are a good team, albeit predictable. They miss that one enigmatic performer, that outstanding talent who could make the difference… a Shane Bond, or an Andrew Symonds or even a Kevin Pietersen. Herschelle Gibbs is as close as they can get, but he delivers rather rarely these days. They are still strong enough to make the semi-final, though, but no further. Mental toughness is still lacking and the bowling looked fairly ragged against Australia. Team South Africa

Sri Lanka: The win over India would have given Sri Lanka a lot of confidence. For one, they eliminated one of the biggest teams and a team that had just beaten them convincingly. For another, they showed strength of character and a team spirit that is a must to win at such a tournament. Their batting looks great, bowling outstanding and fielding stupendous! Can they be stopped? Only by the devils in their mind! Team Sri Lanka

England: In some ways, they have a chance. But in all practicality, they don’t seem to have the drive that is needed. Recent events that showed a lack of team spirit have further dented confidence. Freddie Flintoff returned to take the English home against Kenya, but the bigger teams in the Super Eight will be a different proposition altogether. Semi-finalists? Really outside chance. Team England

New Zealand: They were in great form against Australia and also have the mental upper hand against them. Should the two meet in the final, many may just bet against Australia! Much of New Zealand’s strength lies in the number of utilitarian players they have. Jacob Oram, Scott Styris, Craig McMillan, Brendon McCullum… all do dual roles and as a result, the batting and bowling line-ups are long. They have a good chance to go all the way provided they don’t shoot themselves in the foot. Team New Zealand

West Indies: They haven’t looked good enough and the pressure of playing at home will get to them sooner or later. The troubles lie at the top of the order with Chris Gayle not coming into any sort of form. Chanderpaul played well against Ireland, but that can’t say much! Lara, Sarwan and Samuels have all done well in the past but they need to put together a string of good performances over 3 weeks to make it further. Doubt if they can do that. Team West Indies

Bangladesh: They have played well to make it thus far, but this where they will find themselves out of depth. One will be the pressure of consistent matches and the other of the opposition. Most teams will look at a Bangladesh match as a good chance to up their run rate and the Bangla boys may just suffer. Well done, but they will not go any further. Team Bangladesh

Ireland: A tie against Zimbabwe saw them through to the second round at the expense of Pakistan. Had Zimbabwe won on that day, Ireland could well have gone home and Pakistan, through. But a win over Pakistan deserves to be rewarded and a place in the second round is what they will have to show for it. Once again, they will be the whipping boys even for Bangladesh. A couple of good matches will do them no harm and they should be realistic about their chances. Team Ireland

To sum it up, Australia and Sri Lanka would be worthy finalists with Sri Lanka having a good chance to win the tournament on current form. New Zealand would be the third favourites while anyone else would be a big surprise!
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