Australia Bludgeoned

In an unexpected turn of events here on Friday, the Windies went on to thwart the Aussies in their plan of securing the tournament. With this humongous win, they set up a spot in the finals,it being their first time in a ICC WC final in 29 years, against the rampaging home side on this coming Sunday. They completed this Kangaroo hunt by humiliating them with 74 runs.

Having won the toss, the Windies came out with one of the most aggressive batsman cricket will ever see, in Chris Gayle. The Aussies had done their homework on him, and for a while, it looked that they’d done a good job in denying him the strike, as he faced only 22 balls in the first 12 overs, only to later find him unleashing himself in front of a capacity crowd here in Colombo. He, was ably assisted by Samuels(26), Dwayne Bravo(37) and Pollard (38) .It is rather interesting to note that the Aussies did bowl pretty well- with loads of well directed yorkers and slower balls, but still their attack was taken apart by a riveting display of powerful and clever shots by the humbly-valued West Indies batsman, and Gayle. He and Pollard put together 65 runs from 25 balls in the dying stages to help Windies reach a mammoth 205,Gayle remaining undefeated at 75 of just 41.

Chasing 205 was always going to be difficult for the Kangaroos. This very idea was dented when their most explosive batsman, David Warner, got out for 1 in the first over itself. Soon to follow were Hussey and the in-form Watson, who actually had his first failed outing, having given away 35 of 4 for 0 and skittled for a mere 9-ball-7. The match could have been over a long time ago, with a huge loss looming large at 43 for 6, but for the lone effort from the to-be-axed captain Bailey, scoring 63 of just 29 balls faced. After he got out in the 14th over, it was just a matter of time before the Windies were done with the needful.

This performance by the WI means that the final will be one to die for. The Lankans are playing like never before and are determined to keep this cup in Colombo itself, while the Windies would love to win a major tournament for once. Lankans seems to beam with confidence primarily because of the bowling unit they possess. They were able to defend a meek total against Pakistan and their spinners will be a test for the West Indian batsmen. The only thing that can peg them back is their erratic batting, revolving around Jayawardene. Having said all this, the way the Aussie spinners were taken for bonkers today is not a good sign for them, as their major weapon is spin itself.

The Windies will take a lot of positives from today’s match. This match, all of a sudden, has thrown the more unlikely Caribbean heroes into a rare chance of being the World Champions. Today’s performance ensured that not only Gayle, but also the rest of the pack is determined to take the cup home. But their main dilemma is the same as that of their opponents- their innings revolve around just a single player. And hoping that player to fire each time is a dodgy bet to make. Their bowling however, looks way superior to their opponents, with Narine and Badree finding form at the right time. Stay tuned, for this Sunday we’ll get to see the most enthralling and the fitting final between both the teams who’ve played their best cricket in the last 2 weeks. I’ll put my money on the Lankans though, predominantly because they seem to be a better big game team. Who would your pick be?