Saturday, March 28, 2015

Can the Kiwis stop the Aussie Juggernaut?

The monumental defeat at the hands of the Aussies has left fans all over India disheartened. Most Indian fans are now hoping that the Kiwis would avenge their loss against Australia in the World Cup Grand Finale. Actually, this is the 1st time New Zealand has made it to the WC Final. Considering the roll the Kiwis have been so far .. not losing even a single match till now, would make some of the cricket enthusiastics believe that this is NZ's world cup all the way. After all, NZ has beaten Australia already in one of their league encounters.

But, make no mistake about it .. Australia is still the odds-on favourite to become The 5 Time Cricket World Champion!

Australian cricket team is in a league of their own, establishing complete dominance over their adversaries for almost a decade. India halted the Australian crusade in 2011 when they finally stopped Australia from winning their 4th consecutive World Cup, after they had completed their hatrick win in 2007. Australia is now looking to claim back the ultimate prize in cricket.

Australia’s strengths are that they bat very deep and have 2 world class bowlers in their team. The two Mitchells, Starc and Johnson will be the Aussie trump cards.
Drifting apart from topic .. but personally, the best sight in cricket has always been watching the mighty pace and swing bowlers in the world display their craft. I have always been thrilled watching great spells of fast bowling by some of the legends of the game like Wasim Akram (my personal favourite). Starc is something special. His brilliant spell (6/28) had left the Kiwis shell-shocked in their previous league encounter. Johnson has also performed consistently for Australia over the years and has always been one of their keys to success.

Kiwis have a history of performing extremely well at home, but the final being played in Melbourne heavily favours the Aussies. Kiwis are the underdogs going into this match and I am not ruling them out. But, after it’s all set and done .. I feel, the Aussies will be too much for them to handle.


Please Note:  
This article was written 1 day prior to the 2015 World Cup Final.

My post-match reaction:
I told you so!