The
Cricket World cup started with 14 teams, 14 became 8 in a month and now in a single
week, the 8 became 4 and what next?? Coming Sunday morning the 4 would have reduced
to 2 and that night one team would be proudly standing amongst the celebrations
lifting the cup. Who will it be?? India (or) South Africa (or) Australia (or)
New Zealand?? How do these teams match up and perform
1st SEMI FINAL: NEW ZEALAND vs. SOUTH AFRICA, Eden Park
(Auckland):
Eden
Park, now what would you say when I say that. The most common answer would be
the world’s smallest cricket stadium with a 55m long boundary and spectators
are surely in for a run feast.What if I say that the World’s smallest
ground everyone says has produced the 2 most entertaining low-score thrillers
in this tournament. Now that’s a stat. smaller ground brought forward aggressive
fields and which in turn gave wickets. Both the teams were part of the thrillers.
The co-hosts
New Zealand played the most entertaining low-scoring thriller of the tournament
where they managed to win by 1 wkt after Williamson hit a six to seal the win. They
are now unbeaten on the course to the semi-finals. The Batting has now found a
new avatar in Martin Guptill, the latest 200 club member and with the fire-power
of McCullum, they can easily run away with the momentum of the match if they
are given space. Also they have many match winners in Williamson, Anderson in
the batting ranks. In the bowling ranks, there is Boult, Southee, Milne and
then Vettori who have proven match-winners and have 4 MOM awards against their
name.
The Proteas
played the other thriller, but they were on the losing side. They now have
finally won a WC knock-out game and are now aiming more than just a single
knock-out win. Amla and de Villiers, the No.1 and No.2 batsmen, Steyn the No.1
bowler (Ajmal and Narine are not playing in this campaign) all add force to the
team. The team is just more than these 3. They have de Kock who has finally
found runs off his bat, then du Plessis, Duminy, Miller and Behardien in the
batting and then Morkel, Abbott and Tahir in the bowling. Having scored 400+ totals twice in this campaign, they are a hard team to beat.
Also, given that either one of
the team would be playing their first FINAL next Sunday, expectations have
increased to a new level.
2nd SEMI FINAL: INDIA vs. AUSTRALIA, Sydney Cricket Ground:
The other
match up of the tournament, the Home Team vs. the Defending Champions. India
and Australia have played quite enough cricket between them over 3 months and
this match would be ideal platform to see who has figured out the other team’s
strengths and weakness well. Playing at
the SCG, where the pitch is more sub-continental in nature can aid the Indians
but the fact they did not play a WC match at Sydney and the only ODI they
played in was washed out owing to rain is a worry. Australia on the other hand have played
a ODI against Sri Lanka, a high score encounter at the SCG
The
co-hosts, the Yellow coloured Australians are on the verge of winning the cup
over continents with only winning the trophy at home eluding them and they are
hoping to win it this time and overtake Brazil to win the World Cup in all
continents. In Finch and Warner they have an explosive opening partners and
with Clarke, Smith and Maxwell to follow their batting is formidable. Their bowlers
have also made a mark this tournament. Starc with 18 scalps, one shy of Boult’s
19 is arguably the best death bowler of the tournament and with India mostly
going for the late surge and using the death to rake up high scores, Boult
could play a serious role. Also aiding Starc are the other bowlers in Johnson, Hazelwood
and a lot of the quality all-rounders at Clarke’s disposal to chip in some
overs.
The
Defending Champions. At the beginning of the tournament, many said that it
would be a miracle if India went past the Group stage. But against the odds,
now ask any Indian fan, he would say coming back without the cup is worth
nothing. Such turn around has been generated by the Men in Blue and the most
sweet part of the turnaround is that their bowlers have often been the heroes.
Shami is the 3rd leading wicket-taker and Umesh can clock 145+ and
Mohit can chip in with economical spells. Such is the strength and Ashwin’s
variations are doing a handy aiding the quicker bowlers by stopping the run
flow in the middle overs. Their Batsmen have had at least one major knock to
their name and if they click in unison, any target can be chased.
Who will
go through from Sydney to Melbourne, the 4-time winner Aussies or the 2-time winner
and defending champions India??
Let the fun continue…….
-S.T. Guha Karthikeyan
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