#360view: Australia & South Africa look to be the best at #CWC15

Joy Chakravarty 03:14 23/03/2015
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  • AB de Villiers' South Africa have reached the semi-finals as expected.

    After labouring through nearly 40 days, 42 group matches and four quarter-finals, we are left with a predictable line-up for the semis. New Zealand take on South Africa tomorrow, and it’s Australia v India on Thursday before the grand finale on Sunday.

    Those four happen to be the top four teams in the ICC ODI rankings, and given that it includes the two hosts Australia and New Zealand, as well as the country that whips up the most passion and commercial interest in the sport, India, the 2015 World Cup is proving to be good for all stakeholders.

    But four is about to become two and I’m going for an Australia v South Africa final in Melbourne. That takes out the two unbeaten teams in the competition, India and New Zealand, but I just think Australia and South Africa are the better outfits, despite defeats in the group stages.

    The Proteas have won three out of their last four against the hosts at Eden Park, but there bringing the past into play. This Kiwi team is looking miles better than any other, and they will be a handful.

    Brendon McCullum has time and again traced the origin of New Zealand’s resurgence to that eventful day on January 2, 2013, when Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel scythed through their batting line-up on the opening day of the Cape Town Test match for a paltry total of 45 all out so they will be up for revenge.

    However, barring a sensational individual performance by one of the Kiwi batsmen or bowlers, South Africa have the edge in man-to-man comparison.

    Martin Guptill, whose unbeaten 237 will remain the talk of this tournament, will find it hard to repeat that sort of performance. His record against South Africa is extremely poor, averaging 11.5 runs in 11 matches, which includes seven scores of less than seven.

    Despite all their recent achievements, the Kiwi batting is not as deep and consistent as South Africa, which means their bowlers must deliver.

    If Tim Southee and Trent Boult can do what they did against England and Australia, they will have a good chance of reaching the final. Several experts here are upbeat about India’s chances against Australia because of the pitch conditions at Sydney Cricket Ground.

    And even though Imran Tahir and JP Duminy took seven wickets in the quarter-final against Sri Lanka, there wasn’t much purchase for them.

    For India’s spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja to come into the picture, it will be important that their pace attack, led by the impressive Mohammad Shami, continues the fantastic job they have done so far and maintain early pressure on the Australian batsmen.

    I also won’t be surprised if the Aussies are peppered with some short-pitched bowling early in the innings. Both Shami and Umesh Yadav have bowled with a lot of fire in the tournament and they would have seen how Wahab Riaz harried the Aussie batsmen with his aggression.

    But as good as India have been since the start of the World Cup, they still do not match up to Australia’s firepower in both batting and fast bowling.

    For India, the key will be a good start to their bowling innings. They need to take a couple of quick wickets, and then keep pushing hard. If they cannot suffocate the Australian batsmen from the beginning, it could be a long night for them in Sydney.

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