47 days later, it all comes down to one game. Two teams, one that has steamrolled every single barrier in front of them and the other that while not being as spectacular as the other, has come out with a professional performance every single time. Australia has been the behemoth that everybody loves to hate. And the Sri Lankans have reprised the roles of the eternal charmers, well, for everyone except the Australians. And tomorrow they meet and as the cliché goes, there can be only one winner.
But the sad thing is that the other cliché – the game is the winner, cannot be far from the truth, any more than it has been these past few weeks. Cricinfo’s S. Rajesh says that this has been the most one sided World Cup ever, with 68% of games between the Test playing nations being one sided (see article for specifics). So there is a good chance that tomorrow’s final could be as one sided as the semi finals have been. But it might not be, either.
Australia’s captain, Ricky Ponting has talked about the bounce in the Kensington Oval pitch and how Australia and South Africa would relish it, while the other teams would be wary of batting on such a wicket. But with his comments, he seems to have validated Mahela Jayawardene’s decision to rest his main bowlers for the Super 8 game between the two teams. Because that statement fails to take into consideration the fact that Sri Lanka has a similar, if not identical, attack
In Malinga, Sri Lanka possess a genuine fast bowling threat, both with the old and the new ball, as his spells against New Zealand and South Africa have shown. Vaas is the old hand, but Murali is the key weapon that Mahela really would fancy his chances with. The lip service about watching videos and revolutions of the spinning ball notwithstanding, Murali is going to be a deal breaker for the Australians. Some teams have, in the past, chosen to play Murali defensively while going after the other bowlers, but as Sangakkara mentioned, in the midst of an insightful interview during the run up to the tournament, Murali has now become more attacking than he used to be. So the Australians ought to think twice before going on the defensive against Murali.
As for Australia, Tait has bowled well within his limits and Ponting will rely upon his to blast the Sri Lankans into oblivion. And then there is the Mr. Metronomic himself, Glenn McGrath, who has 25 wickets so far in this World Cup. Providing ample support is Nathan Bracken, but the silent performer of this World Cup has been Brad Hogg. With his Warne-esque numbers, Hogg has ensured that the end is swift. Symonds, who has had a quiet World Cup so far, and Michael Clarke would probably share 5th bowler duties.
While the bowling seems evenly matched, disparity starts to appear when the batting is compared. Australia certainly seems to have the better batting lineup, but the Lankan attack is unlike any that Australia has seen so far in this World Cup. Combine that with a solid wicket keeper in Sangakkara who does not flinch while keeping up to the fast bowlers and the Australians have every reason to be wary.
As for the mental games, those seem to have started as well. While his decision to rest Murali and Vass for the last Super 8 game is debatable, Jayawardene seems to have, additionally, taken a leaf from the Saurav Ganguly handbook. Yesterday, he apparently kept Ponting waiting for a photo session with the trophy for more than an hour, while he was at a golfing event of some sort.
Whether this really makes him get under the tough Aussie skin or merely serves to motivate the Aussies into running the Sri Lankans over, under their juggernaut, time only shall tell. But rest easy, for that time is barely hours away.
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