Ever since I made what-I-thought-to-be decent World Cup Cricket predictions, every prediction has gone topsy-turvy.
Final league match: Pakistan vs Australia.
I thought Pakistan had it good till then and that the Australians were too professional to lose to them. I should have remembered their encounters in England, where a brand new Pakistan team just about lost to the Aussies. The Aussies have not clicked for a long time. I got carried away with their ODI thrashing of England. And England ain't that bad. After this match, I feel Pakistan ARE always going to have a good bowling side. What will determine their overall greatness is their steadiness in a batting.
Final league match: Windies vs India.
India's bowling is abysmal and batting, mighty. If the Windies cracked through a Bangladesh batting, they surely had a chance with Indians. Wrong again. The Indian batting certainly didn't crack. The bowling did a reasonable job. R Ashwin did a good job especially considering the hype that was building around him.
As a result Pakistan topped the table, which was totally unexpected. That Windies went to the bottom of the table instead of England was less of a surprise.
Quarter-final match: Sri Lanka vs England
In the quarter finals, Sri Lanka's demolition of England was an eye-opener especially when I considered England's bowling to be much better than what it turned out to be. But England were handicapped by the lack of Chris Broad and Kevin Petersen, who returned home with injuries and Paul Collingwood, the talismanic player just did not click at this World Cup, which was in keeping with his current poor form.
Quarter-final match: Pakistan vs West Indies
Pakistan's incredibly easy win over West Indies in the quarter final was the next surprise. Windies all out for 112! How I wish India had such bowlers. I mean with such a bowling attack, the batsmen have had to deliver very little. Just the opposite of India, where batsmen battled to cover the holes made by the Indian bowlers.
Quarter-final match: India vs Australia
India vs Australia was a tighter match. Despite the early loss of Sehwag, Tendulkar and Virat Kohli that India were able to pull off a win was commendable. I thought 260 was a good total from Australia. Could have been better if their star player Watson had clicked. What was amazing was Yuvraj taking India to victory with Raina at the other end. Yuvraj held his nerves and fought through the match sensibly.
Prior to this World Cup, I thought I had seen the end of Yuvraj. He has been a patch on himself of late. I didn't think he deserved a place in the side because the fighting spirit and clean hitting seen years ago especially in the company of Mohammad Kaif, had seemed to wane. He just didn't seem to be seeing the ball any more. But in this World Cup, he has struggled with the clean hitting yet has put a price on his wicket. To add to it, he is second highest wicket taker, thanks to Harbhajjan Singh. Unfortunately, Indian bowling is one of the worst seen in recent years. How I wished Praveen Kumar could make it to the Indian team through injury to Harbhajan Singh or at least one of the others. Harbhajan is my first choice for injury because he has proven to be afraid of bowling the last overs on more than one occasion despite the long tenure he has had in the Indian team. Nehra had to shoulder the blame for India's loss to South Africa. What better place for Bhajji to bowl and take wickets than the Indian subcontinent? Yet he has stuck to economical bowling when India lacks quality attacking bowling. He is clearly afraid of taking responsibilities.
Quarter-final match: New Zealand vs South Africa
New Zealand once again entered the semi-final by playing far beyond their individual abilities. And it beat what-was-supposedly the best team in the tournament. Hashim Amla's bizarre dismissal and Kallis' catch taken by Jacob Oram made it clear, whose side God was on.
Semi-final match: New Zealand vs South Africa
The first semi-final is over and Sri Lanka beat New Zealand comprehensively. I am still waiting to see another Jayawardene-Sangakarra partnership. He disappointed by getting an lbw before he could settle. New Zealand struggled to defend 217. Sri Lanka goes into the final with the second best batting line up. And the best and most varied bowling attack. How do you score when you're facing a Malinga, followed by a Murali, a Herath, a Mendis and a competent all-rounder like Angelo Matthews?
Semi-final match: Pakistan vs India
Today is the Pakistan vs India match-the biggest match in the World Cup in terms of audience interest. I'd like Pakistan to win. Simply so that no team in the world believes it can get away with poor bowling and fielding. My convoluted logic-if India wins the match, they'll beat Sri Lanka. For some inexplicable reason, Sri Lanka loses matches versus India in India and vice versa. So if Sri Lanka has to win, they have to face Pakistan in the final. It irks me that Dhoni has been constantly saying that India's strength is its batting and not its bowling or fielding. It has done no good to the Indian team's bowling or fielding performance. If India wins this one and goes on to win the World Cup, it would only be because the batting NEVER cracked. The bowling continues to the abysmal despite Zaheer Khan's wonderful performance. But with so little support, one bad day at office would have colossal implications.
For the sake of the game, I wish Sri Lanka wins the World Cup because it has delivered the most professional display of cricket so far. They played hard and they have all-round quality in their batting, bowling and fielding. Though a World Cup for India would be sweet. The prospect of Tendulkar being part of a World Cup winning team would be a good reward for the best batsman in the world. However, if Pakistan (despite its inexperience) or India (despite poor bowling and fielding) wins the World Cup, it would only go to show the immaturity of the game itself as a sport.
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