CricDigs Blogs

After falling face down with my pre-tournament predictions (you can read about it here if you want to have a good time laughing at me ) one would seriously doubt my credibility as one of the game’s enthusiast/budding analyzer. But then again, in the fast changing world of Cricket, where the core identity of the game (read Test Match cricket) is under threat, no one would mind a few surprises springing up when it comes to which teams are contending for the “Mini World Cup” trophy.

If someone would have told me at the start of the tournament that England would be one of the four semi-finalists, I would have been ready to bet a significant portion of my savings against that claim. At least it is now sufficiently clear that a career in gambling does not beckon me. Though England lost in the first semi-final to Australia, the fact that they made it this far, given their pre-tournament form and general approach towards the shorter version of the game, is extremely surprising to me.

If England’s qualification is unbelievable, then New Zealand’s entry in the semi-final as the second team in group B at the expense of the tournament favourites (SL) isn’t short of being surprising either. Rather, in this case, I would think that SL’s disqualification is a bigger surprise. After beating SA convincingly in the first match of the tournament, SL completely lost their way even though they had arguably the best and most varied bowling lineup among all teams.

Pakistan has surprised everyone so many times that the surprise factor has lost its sheen. Right from their unexpected victory in the 1992 ODI World Cup to their win in the recently concluded T20 World Cup, they have always won whenever they have been the underdogs. Make them the favourites in any tournament and they will make sure they exit in the first round. And I still think
that if they make it to the semis (which they have already done) they have the potential to go all the way.

Which brings us to the mighty Australians. They are in the semi-finals… so what’s new? They had come as close as the final 2 deliveries and the final 2 two wickets to going back home after their match against Pakistan. But Australia once again demonstrated why they have ruled the cricketing world so long. They have the longest batting line up (with Brett Lee coming in at No. 10) and have proved once again, why it is so important that your bowlers also bat a bit. It many times becomes the difference between winning a trophy and going home early (Is India still listening?). Lee used all his experience as a multiple-World-Cup-Champion in guiding himself and Hauritz through the crucial final 20 runs to win the nail-biter on the final ball of the inning.

Pakistan play New Zealand today in the second semi-final to decide who locks horns against Australia on Monday. I think Pakistan missed a trick by allowing Australia to win their league match against them. I don’t think they gave their 100% in that match (the way they would have done if it was a do-or-die match for them). Had they pipped Australia, their potential final opponent would have been India (I would pick India in an India Vs. England game any day). Given that India didn’t have Sehwag, Zaheer and Yuvraj in their line-up, and the fact that India were already beaten by Pakistan in the league match, they would have been a much softer opponent for Pakistan that Australia.

I predict a Pakistan - Australia final with Australia prevailing yet again.