Aussies ruthless when in a final

The Australians cricketers led admirably and by example once again by Ricky Ponting stuffed the Kiwis in the final at the SuperSports Stadium in South Africa to emerge worthy champions and retain the ICC Champions Trophy.

The Aussies were given a fright by the Pakistanis in a semi-final. It was the ninth wicket pair of Brett Lee and Nathan Hauritz who saw them through to the final.

When this pair was at the wicket and struggling to obtain the runs, the Aussie players in the pavilion and their supporters would certainly have skipped a few heartbeats.

The tension was heart stopping. But Lee and Hauritz with some correct batting and showing that they were not overawed by the situation took their team to the final with no further hiccups.

Their opponents in the final was New Zealand who had got the better of Pakistan in the other semi-final. As for the Kiwis it was a great achievement considering that they were sans some of their top performers, out due to injury. The Aussies too were similarly hit.

Before going on to comment on the final, a bit of criticism must be levelled at the hosts of the tourney the South African Cricket Board and the organizers the International Cricket Council.

The criticism is because of the wickets prepared for a tourney of this magnitude. The playing surfaces at both venues left much to be desired. They were not wickets meant for this style of game. The wicket at the Wanderers was always difficult while the one at SuperSport Park was good to both teams.

Like I said earlier, the hosts of the tourney and the organizers the ICC must take the blame for this sad state of affairs. The SACB should have made it their business to produce sporty wickets and the ICC should have made it their responsibility to keep an eye on what was being done as to the preparation of wickets.

Although the players are not allowed to talk and comment on the wickets, it was apparent that a majority of them were fuming, but having to hold back and not comment for fear of reprisals.

Having said that we would be failing in our duty if we do not congratulate the hosts and the organizers for a tournament, that did not allow anything to chance, but was well organized and conducted.

To the final and after a superb allround performance in the semi-final against Pakistan it was galling to the New Zealanders to lose their skipper Daniel Vettori, out with a hamstring injury in the crucial final. That took the sails out of them. They also missed Jesse Ryder, the scourge of the Sri Lankans and Darrel Tuffey.

The Australians missed vice captain Michael Clarke and Nathan Bracken. But the Aussies like they always do, had enough and able replacements and were not unduly worried. Once in a final the Aussies can be ruthless like they proved in this final.

It was the consensus that winning of the toss and batting first would certainly be an advantage in this battle between Australia and New Zealand which has always been tagged 'grudge', since Greg Chappel got his brother Trevor to bowl an under arm delivery in a limited over game between them.

Australia lost the toss, but hit back strongly to scuttle the early batting. After acting captain Brendon McCallum went for a duck, it was always a struggle and although Neil Broom 37 and James Franklin 33 put on 65 for the sixth wicket, they could only manage 205 which was not going to be challenging considering the powerful Australian batting line up. Earlier Martin Guptil made 40 which was the highest score for the Kiwis. Brett 'lethal' Lee who could not play in the Ashes series, and who is now thirsting for scalps opened the bowling firing missiles at the Kiwi batsmen. His opening burst was fearsome, in addition swinging the ball and his bouncer was life threatening. His 2 for 45 was not justice enough. Nathan Hauritz the off spinner also had a good bowl with 3 for 37.

When the Aussies replied, they were shocked losing Tim Paine and Ricky Ponting for one each and the score 6. Ponting's was a big, big wicket. He had been in tremendous form and his going was a big blow.

But it is said cometh the hour cometh the men. Shane 'Tarzan' Watson and James Hopes saw them through to the victory celebrations. Watson played a devastating innings that had all the strokes in the book and some of it improvised.

Watson had good support from Cameron. White who made 62 and together they added 128 for the third wicket. Watson unless he is dismissed early, can be demoralizing once he settles in. After his century in the semi-final, he continued from there and once he got on top of the bowling just scattered it to every corner of the park and over it as well.

He has modeled his batting on the styles of Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden. He believes that the ball is there to be hit and not to be caressed. He brutalized the bowling and his two sixes to signal his century and bring victory for his side and end the Kiwi suffering had to be seen to be believed.

Watson started the tournament with two ducks. But he finished up having roasted 'ducks' rattling up two centuries in the semi and the final. Watson says he likes fronting up to the new ball. He is now a permanent fixture in the number one slot in the established and instant game and he will put many opposing bowlers to the sword once his career begins to unwind.

This is what Shane Watson told the 'Sydney Morning Herald': 'Seeing Matt Hayden and Adam Gilchrist bat the way they did, there's obviously a big opportunity for me to try to fill the void there because we always got off to flyers.

'Adam and Matt always got big totals, especially in big events. Adam Gilchrist in the ICC World Cup final and Matt Hayden throughout the whole ICC World Cup. I love batting at the top of the order against the new ball, so I have just got to do as best I possibly can.'

Watson 28, said that his breakthrough event on the international stage was the Indian Premier League for having a huge impact on his game and confidence. He concluded by saying that there was no doubt that's what got me back on the field, got my confidence up as a player, but also it got me back in the Australian team as well a bit quicker than I thought I would".