A concourse view, Australia v India
Here's a view from the Sydney Cricket Ground's Bill O'Reilly stand concourse during the 2015 Australia vs. India World Cup semi final. Rahane and Dhoni are batting, Australia is in the field. You can see the slope from the wicket to the boundaries!
Australia play New Zealand today before more than 90,000 people at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, and it's no accident as they were the two most aggressive sides this World Cup. Amazingly, as I think it's the first time Ricky Ponting has said something noteworthy, (being a brilliant batsman for so long perhaps he didn't have to), he has exactly hit the mark on NZ's strategy. Ponting notes two games within 50 overs; the first 35 overs and the last 15. According to Ponting, NZ tries to break the opposition's back before the 35th over. We've seen Trent Boult bowling most of his overs early to good effect - with 21 wickets, Boult is the tournament's leading wicket taker (never mind his 5-27 against Australia at Eden Park). The logic is that with wickets down teams can't score heavily in the last 15 overs.
In fact, in this World Cup no team has successfully chased more than 240! It's a no-brainer that which ever team wins the toss will bat first. Perhaps batting under lights is a bit tricky for the openers too, as the fielding rules put pressure on them to score fast in the first few overs.
I'm favouring Australia - the MCG is a big ground, the ball won't swing much, Australia's three pacemen bowl at 140 kph+, Smith's and Maxwell's batting has been superb, and home ground advantage too. New Zealand can win, particularly if Southee can get the ball to swing early, but if they do they will really have deserved it!
A concourse view, Australia v India
Here's a view from the Sydney Cricket Ground's Bill O'Reilly stand concourse during the 2015 Australia vs. India World Cup semi final. Rahane and Dhoni are batting, Australia is in the field. You can see the slope from the wicket to the boundaries!
Australia play New Zealand today before more than 90,000 people at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, and it's no accident as they were the two most aggressive sides this World Cup. Amazingly, as I think it's the first time Ricky Ponting has said something noteworthy, (being a brilliant batsman for so long perhaps he didn't have to), he has exactly hit the mark on NZ's strategy. Ponting notes two games within 50 overs; the first 35 overs and the last 15. According to Ponting, NZ tries to break the opposition's back before the 35th over. We've seen Trent Boult bowling most of his overs early to good effect - with 21 wickets, Boult is the tournament's leading wicket taker (never mind his 5-27 against Australia at Eden Park). The logic is that with wickets down teams can't score heavily in the last 15 overs.
In fact, in this World Cup no team has successfully chased more than 240! It's a no-brainer that which ever team wins the toss will bat first. Perhaps batting under lights is a bit tricky for the openers too, as the fielding rules put pressure on them to score fast in the first few overs.
I'm favouring Australia - the MCG is a big ground, the ball won't swing much, Australia's three pacemen bowl at 140 kph+, Smith's and Maxwell's batting has been superb, and home ground advantage too. New Zealand can win, particularly if Southee can get the ball to swing early, but if they do they will really have deserved it!