[Marauder]

Originally Posted by carwatcher

I have already started feeling sad about the outcome of NZ-SA match as it will be another case of 'so near yet so far' for one of them. One more point worth noting that barring 1992, NZs have always been beaten in SFs quite comprehensively as if they loose all their steam.

Yes, but one of them would also, for the first time, qualify for the finals and maybe go on to win the World Cup.

The Semi-Final line-up is absolutely brilliant this time. 1st SF-contest b/w perennial underachievers and 2nd SF-contest b/w Champions.

[drmohitg]

While I would love to see India lift the cup again, I do not mind SA beating Australia in the finals and taking there sweet revenge for the infamous loss of the 1999 WC.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by saket77

No target is big if there is Gayle at the crease.

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

Gayle is gone. Windies' chances of winning are next to nil now.

This is precisely WIs problem and that's why they are knocked out in the first knockout of the tournament.

And this is also the speciality of all the teams that are in the semifinals. There is no reliance on any particular induvidual to see the team through. India face their first biggest challenge in SF, let's see how they perform after being comprehensively outperformed in both Test and ODI levels not too long back.

Originally Posted by carwatcher

I have already started feeling sad about the outcome of NZ-SA match as it will be another case of 'so near yet so far' for one of them.

I do agree, both teams have been fighting to win a World Cup for quite a long time. I'm having a tough time which team to support as I like 'em both . Maybe Kiwis have a slight edge, considering their performance in the lead up and through the tournament and have thrown the biggest surprise by beating Australia. My expectations are lower on South Africa considering how they've capitulated in chases.

Head predictions:
Winner: Australia
Runner Up: New Zealand

Heart predictions: Anyone except Australia in finals. Am happy with either of the 3 teams lifting the cup, more inclined with either NZ or SA winning even at the expense of India.

[Gannu_1]

Caught up with the highlights of WI vs NZ match today. And man, I am thinking NZ might be an even formidable opponent than the Aussies, the way they were playing the match today.

Windies had an amazing run rate of 8+ after the 10th over but they were solely relying on Gayle. If only he held his ground and the others gave him support, 400 is an easy target for them.

I also loved their team spirit - both the Windies as well as NZ. Check out his reaction when Boult throws a bouncer - http://www.icc-cricket.com/cricket-w...ing-and-diving

And to think the way Aussies would have responded to such a bouncer.

[PPS]

I still feel in the India-Australia game , the Aussies start as favorites thanks to home conditions but i hope India give them a tough fight. The only issue is the last high intensity game we played was a month back against South Africans, we have played easier games after that!

Originally Posted by narayans80

Maybe Kiwis have a slight edge, considering their performance in the lead up and through the tournament and have thrown the biggest surprise by beating Australia.

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

And man, I am thinking NZ might be an even formidable opponent than the Aussies, the way they were playing the match today.

Kiwis definitely have an edge in the semis because of home conditions but remember the finals are going to be played at MCG which is a much bigger ground & new/different pitch conditions to deal with, that is if they qualify.

[avingodb]

Going into the semis, I think India's pace attack looks one dimensional now. I would be happy to be proven wrong but there is no Zak there and from the present unit no one really has an absolutely cleaver slow ball variety.

On the other hand, Wahab has done a favour to Indian bowlers by shaking the Aussie rank with raw pace and I am sure Indian fielders will hold onto their catches better than what Pakistan did!

[Chetan_Rao]

India's best chance will be bat first and bat AUS out of the game. As much as we'd like to believe in our bowling talent, we aren't even in the same ballpark as the other three teams right now.

I was watching the NZ/WI game today. Goult bowled through his entire quota consistently in the 140+ range, and was menacing throughout. Name one Indian paceman fit enough to do that!

[drmohitg]

I also feel that our best chance is to bat first. We might fall short in chasing a score of 300 against the Australian bowling attack.

[Eddy]

Indian bowlers have made good use of the short ball so far in the tournament. How the Aussies play the short bowl will determine the outcome of this match I feel.

And batting first has the risk of a SL like collapse. You lose the match in the first 25 overs. Chasing means that if Australia score 300, at the least there will be a game on for about 75 overs.

Honestly, I would prefer us chasing. Going out to bat while trying to set a huge target, the likelihood of an early collapse against their pace attack is quite likely. Let Kohli, Raina & MSD do the chasing

[carwatcher]

I feel we will tame the Aussies and more so while chasing. I agree our bowling is not of very high quality but as a total package our team looks far better than PAK etc.
However high the target may be our team knows well how to tire out the bowlers and then go for big shots. Even if we bat first, I don't see giving up easily even if we go 5 down. We anyways have big match experienced players. At the same time, I am not saying that we are invincible, but we surely won't allow Aussies to run away with the match.

Pak and WI were heavily relying on Wahab Riaz and Gayle. It reminded me of older days when Indian tail started as soon as Sachin got out while opening.

We are going to witness the cruelty of sport yet again in I SF like we did in 1999 SF between Aus-SA.
Here too if it's a tie then SA goes out due to NZ being the table toppers IIRC.

The final looks mouth watering be it between any teams, INDvSA, INDvNZ, AUSvNZ, AUSvSA.

[PPS]

Originally Posted by Eddy

Honestly, I would prefer us chasing. Going out to bat while trying to set a huge target, the likelihood of an early collapse against their pace attack is quite likely. Let Kohli, Raina & MSD do the chasing

We have fumbled a bit chasing against weaker teams in this tournament. We beat Pakistan & South Africa batting first & that is our best chance. Both had good bowling attacks. Winning the toss & batting is our best bet. The ball does a lot more under lights than in the afternoon.

[NPV]

Glad that the top 2 teams from each group finally made it to the Semi Finals
India needs 5-6 of the top Aussie wickets to beat them, this will be a great challenge for the bowlers who haven't done well against the Aussies since November, Go Team India

[tbppjpr]

Originally Posted by Eddy

Indian bowlers have made good use of the short ball so far in the tournament. How the Aussies play the short bowl will determine the outcome of this match I feel.

And batting first has the risk of a SL like collapse. You lose the match in the first 25 overs. Chasing means that if Australia score 300, at the least there will be a game on for about 75 overs.

Honestly, I would prefer us chasing. Going out to bat while trying to set a huge target, the likelihood of an early collapse against their pace attack is quite likely. Let Kohli, Raina & MSD do the chasing

I agree with you Eddy.

If we have chances then we can just make it, then be it chasing or batting first, or be it against Aus or NZ or whoever.

My opinion wasn't the same before world cup started but the way Indian team has performed so far has just changed my opinion about them. Right now my favorite is India. Its not because I am Indian but there are some strong logical reasons, look at here:

Performance of Indian team has been balanced in the tournament so far. Our bowlers and batsmen both have been consistent in the death overs and during the power play. It wasn't the case before the World cup. Our batting had been collapsing either during the power play or in the death overs. Similarly our bowlers were also not effective in the death overs and giving up lot of runs. But don't know what miracle have happened that the team has now converted these shortcomings into their strength.

Best part is we have been able to take all the wickets in all of the matches we have played so far. Has any other team been able to do so in the current tournament? No. Did we allow our opponents to cross 300? forget 300, we haven't even allowed other teams to reach even near to 300.

There have been chances when it felt like we could score at better run rate compared to what we have done in the matches played so far. But still I am very happy that our batting hasn't collapsed except the first match where we couldn't utilize the death overs.

Our batting is rather looking solid. Even if we loose early wickets or can't score at better run rate in the first half, our batsmen are capable in putting a decent total on board which can be defended by our bowlers.

We haven't been inconsistent like NZ who once score near to 400 and struggle to reach even 150 in the other match. Even SA and Aus have struggled in different conditions. Our performance is atleast predictable.

I have always believed that a strong and disciplined bowling line up is capable of winning more matches at consistent rate compared to a team having strong batting but poorer bowling lineup. Our own team has been example of this in the past. We haven't had three good seemers at the same time in the team like what we have today and always struggled to maintain consistent winning spree.

If you guys remember the 2003 WC played under captaincy of Ganguly, there also our bowlers turned out the main key of success for us. Srinath was swinging the bowl beautifully like what Mohit is doing now and Zaheer and Nehra were troubling the opponent batsmen with their pace, short-balls and yorkers like what Sami and Umesh are doing now.

But the first over of Zaheer against Gilchrist went wrong and suddenly there was a panic all over. All of our bowlers started struggling. No short, swing or spin ball worked in that one match. Our plan A failed and looked like we didn't have any plan B ready with us. Result - Aus managed to set a target of 360 which we couldn't chase despite of having best ever batting lineup of Indian cricket history.

I just hope that our current bowlers don't end up falling in over-confidence. Hope they have some sort of plan B ready with them in case their ongoing plannings fail. Also hope that our batsmen don't end up loosing lot of wickets in try of scoring 350+ runs. I wish that our upcoming matches are played in the grounds having bigger boundaries like MCG because only quality batting lineup having good temperament can score in the bigger grounds and I feel right now we have advantage in this particulate area compared to batsmen of other teams.

Offcourse the fielding and batting departments will have to do their job very well like what they have been doing so far in the tournament but bowling will be the main key for us.

[normally_crazy]

Umesh/Sami vs Warner/Smith and Ashwin vs Maxwell - the 2 key battles when the Aussies bat.

Starc/Johnson vs the Indian openers the key when India bats.

[carwatcher]

Is there any Mauka Mauka Ad for IND v AUS have been aired yet ?