It is hard to see who will beat the Australians, given the kind of form they are in at the moment. I suppose a team will have to have a really ‘fantastic’ day to put it across Ponting and his team. New Zealand have been one of the better sides in this competition, and even their staunchest hater could not have possibly imagined the manner in which they were crushed by the Australian Juggernaut. Three of the four semifinalists have had their share of hiccups in the tournament. New Zealand lost to Sri Lanka and now Australia, Sri Lanka lost to South Africa and Australia, and South Africa were trounced by New Zealand and Bangladesh. But Australia haven’t been stretched. So far, that is.
Matthew Hayden’s hitting has been nothing short of outstanding. Ponting, who is easily the best batsman in the world at the moment, has been in tremendous form as well. The bowlers in the team wouldn’t be complaining too much, what with a mountain of runs to bowl with. The way Hayden and Brad Hogg have silenced their detractors should be an inspiration for all those who are itching to prove their critics wrong, as should Shane Watson’s remarkable return.
His performance with bat and ball after a long layoff was unbelievable. There were several question-marks over Hogg’s presence in the side, but he has suddenly become a key player. It is best to let your performances do the talking, and Hogg and Hayden have done exactly that. The woes of their opponents have been compounded by the form of virtually the entire team. Every single player has done the job assigned to him, and done it rather well.
As for New Zealand, they ought to take heart from the fact that they are still in the race. They are a talented and hardworking side, and have it in them to go the distance.
A critical factor is Shane Bond, who they missed against the Australians. The Kiwis will feel a lot better in the semi-final against Sri Lanka if their spearhead strikes early. It would not be too much of an exaggeration to say that Australia will start the second semifinal as the favorite. They have the wood over South Africa.
The Australia-New Zealand encounter was preceded by an announcement that took everyone by surprise. It’s always a sad day when a legend decides to quit. I was the Australian captain when Brian Charles Lara scored 277 at the Sydney Cricket Ground back in January 1993, and it was obvious then that the guy was going to torment bowlers for years to come.
It has been a privilege to have played against him and later watched him. I remember waking up sometime in mid-1994 and reading in the newspaper that he had scored an unbeaten 501 in a County game. Frankly, I just could not contemplate how any batsman could post such a score in a cricket match! His individual performances only got better as the years passed, and bowlers the world over would have heaved a huge sigh of relief after his decision to hang his boots.
During the course of his extraordinary career, Lara was maligned on quite a few occasions for different reasons. However, that doesn’t come into the equation as far as I am concerned.
He was a genuine gentleman on and off the field, one of those who ‘walked’ if he thought he was out. He surpassed my tally of 11,174 runs to become the highest scorer in Test cricket, and that was just one of the many records under his belt. Will anybody break the records he has established? We will have to wait and see.
