Australia v South Africa, World Cup Semi Final. Match Preview

The Sri Lankan batting delivered, and while Jayawardene produced a century (of which 84 runs came in the last 13 overs of the innings) and Sri Lanka made 289, one felt that Upul Tharanga’s run-a-ball 73 against the Kiwi new ball was telling, especially after Jayasurya had been dismissed early. He effectively nullified the Kiwi advantage of getting past the great man early in the piece and ensured that Sri Lanka had a decent beginning. Indeed, when Tharanga was dismissed for 73(74 balls, 9 fours, 1 six), Sri Lanka had made 111/3 in 25.2 overs. The other batsmen upto that point had contributed 1(11) – Jayasurya, 18(42) – Sangakkara and 9(33) – Jayawardene.

The Sri Lankan bowling proved too much New Zealand and a middle order collapse triggered by an opportunistic claim of caught & bowled by the great Muralitharan meant that the first semi-final joined 43 out of the 48 games so far as one sided affairs. The thing about one sided affairs is that supporters of the winning side think they’re very exciting, while everyone else thinks they are a waste of time.

Stephen Fleming retired as New Zealand ODI captain after 218 games in which he came away with a 96-108 win-loss record. 2004 was his best year – New Zealand produced a 16-4 record in 22 games that year. If you consider only this decade, then Fleming’s New Zealand came away with a 78-78 record. Thats surprisingly poor considering Flemings reputation as a “great” captain. It only underlines the fact that a captain is only as good as his team – something which makes Graeme Smith and Ricky Ponting very fine captains. In fact, it makes Ponting the finest ODI captain in history – better than Clive Lloyd, Steve Waugh or Hansie Cronje.

What can we look forward to tomorrow? A batting slog fest where Bradley Hogg will emerge as Australia’s match-winning trump card? Or will Makhaya Ntini make a triumphant return and demolish the Australian top order? What kind of game would you prefer to watch? A tense 525-550 run game where 5 good overs for either team will not end the other teams chances but will dent them considerably, or an outrageous 750-800 run slog fest? I would prefer the former. However, with the prodigious six hitting prowess on either side and the small boundaries at Beausejour Stadium, i wouldn’t be surprised if we had the latter – or worse, if we have one side racing away to 350 and the other crashing to 225.

Both South Africa and Australia have beaten Sri Lanka in this World Cup. However, the final promises to be a great game, irrespective of which of these two sides qualifies.

My prediction – South Africa to win – with Makhaya Ntini producing a sterling spell and Jacques Kallis scoring some responsible runs. I have to be right this time! 🙂