Lions - The King of the Jungle.

Since 1996 the world cup final has been an Australia versus an Asian sub continent team affair, and the only time Australia was not clearly the heavy favorites was in 1999. Ironically that was the easiest win, with the other win against India also not too bothersome for Australia.

Australia is on a hat trick now, and if they are able to do it, it will be the first time any team would have achieved that. The West Indies were denied of their hat trick after winning the 75 and 79 world cups by yet another sub continent team, India. No other team (other than the ones listed above) has won two consecutive world cups.

In 1996 Sri Lanka relied on their batting with Jayasuria and Kalu in punishing mood and the master Aravinda at the top of his game. This time around they are more of a bowling team. Over all the Sri Lankan side is very balanced right now and they are an ideal team to give Australia a run for their money. Australia has excellent batsmen, most of them very good at playing pace bowling. They are also pretty good players of spin, but Murali is more than just a spinner; he is a magician.

The final will be a game of nerves, a battle of wits and strategy, and a clash between the geniuses of cricket. Australia has an advantage of having players on their roster who have featured in multiple world cup finals before, however Sri Lanka is not a team which will become victim of stage fright. South Africa, because of their history of being chokers and the other sub continent teams because of the immense pressure they play under due to the expectations of millions of die hard fans, are prone to crumble under pressure. With Sri Lanka this is not true. They have this ‘great to be here’, ‘nothing to loose’ attitude which holds the key to their chances in Saturday’s final. Australia will not find it easy to scare or bully the Sri Lankans as they have so frequently done with other teams in the past.

A battle of wits and strategy: The Sri Lankans had a clear cut strategy in 1996. Hit any thing loose, hit any thing not good, and for some players it was hit anything that is white and round. No holding back. Australia lately has played with a similar strategy and with the power hitters and the depth in their batting, it has proven to be very useful and rewarding. Sri Lanka, today, however has a different strategy. Pile a decent total (200 +) against any team, or 250+ against Australia and choke the other team in the middle overs. Jayasuria with his brisk left armers and Murali with his mesmerizing varieties and prodigious turn together become a deadly combo. With the experience of Vaas and the awkwardness that Malinga adds to the bowling department it is very likely that a target of 250 may be enough for the Sri Lankans to defend. The Australian strategy will be to bat first and put their stronger discipline (batting) under least pressure. This way they will be able to score freely and will look to get to a score around 300. The Sri Lankans will find it tough to chase that target against the pace of Tait, the guile of Bracken and the swan song performance of the impeccable McGrath.

A clash of geniuses: Australia will be looking at their veteran McGrath to do what he does best one last time – run through the top order in his first spell. Sri Lanka will be hoping that Jayasuria does what he knows best and gives them a flying start which will put the Aussies on the back foot In the Australian innings Murali’s overs will be the most crucial. If Vaas is able to give them a good start with two or more Australian batsmen back in the pavilion, it will be very hard to stop Murali from wrapping it up. Jayasuria and McGrath will be playing their last games, Murali and Ponting probably will have another shot at the world cup, but surely no one will leave things for the future.

What the script writers have written, we will have to wait and see.

A note about the pitch: The pitch which will be used in the finals will be one which Ricky won’t mind playing on. It is one of the bouncier and faster tracks of the world cup.

In the end, remember, if what they said about cricket is still true, there is only one worthy champions. Besides, it is time the Lions roared again.