Who is going to kiss the cup? Sanath or Ricky??

I hope that god prevents Sri Lankans from being raped by Australia! Wish SL could prevent it, seems unlikely.

Good to see at least one asian team in the world cup finals

1992 - Paki (won) - vs Eng
1996- Sri (won) - vs Aus
1999 - Paki (lost) - vs Aus
2003 - Ind (lost) - vs Aus
2007 - Sri (???) - vs Aus

Is is only srilanka who can beat aussies?

Strategically,SL management is at high point.SL has shown killer instinct in recent time which is most to win WORLD CUP.Murali is a real killer.If Jayasurya along with Murali if can perform their best during final,SL has a potential to beat AUSIES.

Nerves of the players count a lot.

Regardless of how well Sri Lanka have performed till now, Aussies have looked like a MERCILESS bunch! They've comprehensively beaten their opponents and the thrashing of SA in group games ( 370 plus score ) and yesterday's hammering of SA says it all! Australia have to have an off day to lose the final. In all seriousness, a MIGHTY team performance is the only thing that SL can hope for to beat the aussies who're set to retain the WC trophy for 3rd time in a row.

Srilanka have upper hand in few aspects:

1. They have Murali -> better and more experiance spinner than Hogg

2. They have more bowling variety and options in their squad

Both have even contest in many aspects:

1. Captains - both look great and batting well.
2. Openers - Hayden and Jayasurya - both can be equally brutal and capable
3. Clarke - Sangakara
4. Tait -Malinga fast and dangerous
5. Vaas-Bracken - economical good opening bowlers
6. I think fielding is even too

Australia have upper hand in few aspects:

1. There is no match in SL team for the 4th bowler - McGrath and his experiance!
2. The middle order of australian batting lineup look better that features Symonds, Hussey and Watson
3. After beating every teams compresensively they have the confidence and more hunger for the cup than SL - Situation to have a Hat trick of word cup victory comes rarely.
4. They have bowled out evey team where as Tait, McGrath, Bracken(?) have never taken field with the a bat!

Overall!

1. Can Srilankan batting lineup post a 250+ score batting first or restrict australia within 250 if they field first?
2. I will say the match is between australian batting vs Srilankan bowling - the one who wins in this section of competition - wins the world cup.
3. We have seen srilankan batting many times and they dont have the power to go past 250 with the australian attack. 250 would be a very good score to defend with the attack they have.


Key players:

Murali, Jayasurya, Jaywardane, Hayden, Ponting, McGrath

Like I said before, Aussies will have to be the poorest to lost the final against SL. Agreed that SL has a formidable side but the key component to Australian team is the fact that they're the natural champions. They never look up to a single player to win it for them.
Just consider the following, hayden scores on 1st match, symonds chips in as well , both fail on second match but Ponting rises on the second match along with Gilly. Clarke and Hussey do the same thing along with Watson on 3rd match. The players rotate their performances meaning that the team is consistent! The same goes with bowlers. Mcgrath takes a 4 for on one match, Tait fails on the first but bags 3 wkts on the second one. Bracken and Hogg do it on 3rd match. Damn. Such a fabulous and joy to watch! I wish that for the sake of cricket, Aussies lost but can't see it happening.

Yes, Tusaro and Balbhadra have done good analysis. The Toss will play a vital role in West Indies ( applies every where). Analysiing most of the played games in WI world cup, the morning session always helped seam bowlers and pitch played more gently at afternoon session. Moreover, the key figure will be Murali, if the Aussie will be able negotaite Murali's 10 overs, then it no other bowlers will have adverse impact to their formidable batting line up.
I am always admiring the claasic style of cricket. Not the cricket of batting like Khukuri cut. Attapattu is the classic batsman, Sri Lanka is missing him badly. Heyden of course can hit very hard, but his defensive strokes are also solid.
Lets, hope for the good crikret not like both semis.

Painstaking analysis I must say-

I agree to certain extent with Sri Lanka bringing cup home. One of the primary reasons why they would do so is, the islanders have less to lose at this standpoint, they have already done an incredible job and although the pressure surmounts every second, they are not expected to win the world cup as much as Australians are.
A minnow (comparitively) who is a little under pressure can be as lethal as a juggernaut.

Kangaroos are under enormous pressure because they are unarguably the best team and would try to retain that position. Warne is no longer with them and they have little a answer to the spinning venom of muralitharan. If Australians fall for a doosra, the final is a piece of cake for Lankans. On the flip side, Gilchrist outclasses sangakkara on a good batting wicket and McGrath's unparralleled deliveries are beyond comparison to any Sri Lankan pacers.

If both analysis fail to bring about an unequivocal result, one must look at the ability of Aussie Batsmen, even a batsman down the order is ton-worthy, enough to steer kangaroos home.

Stop wasting your time in analyzing the final match, guys. The way that Aussies are playing right now, there is no way that they are going to lose this game. Although I would like to see Srilankans taking the trophy home, we all know better that Aussies are not going to give away that opportunity in any way. Third world cup victory in a row for Australians…Bravo!

first off, i feel bad for SA for they missed out on a chance to beat the aussies in the semis. had they applied themselves more calmly and in a practical manner (without being OVER aggressive while batting), they could well have knocked the champion team out yesterday.

but now that AUS are in the final, whoever wins, i am glad that too most formidable teams are going to clash in the final and what could be better than that for the fairness of the tournament? a perfect icing on the cake, to me, would be if SL wins over AUS and prove that the juggernauts, that this ominous AUS side are, can also have a bad day or two and are hence beatable.

there is no doubt that AUS are on a roll at the moment but i don't see why they cannot be beaten in the final. if we delve into the history of the finals that they've played,

1) AUS vs PAK in 1999: Pak batted first but were all out for a meager total of 130 odd runs. AUS batted second and no wonder they chased the score with style.

2) AUS vs IND in 2003: AUS batted first and made a huge total of 360 plus. A total like that is almost invincible in a final to chase for any team. No wonder IND failed.

In both cases, AUS got hold of the final in the first inning itself so they haven't really been tested in crunch situation. so IMHO, SL has all the potential to beat the crap out of Aussies if they apply themselves with cool heads in the first inning. ideally, i would like to see:

1) SL batting first and posting a modest total -- say 260 plus. they don't need 300+ to beat the aussies.

2) quickies with the likes of mallinga and vaas should fire in their first spell and get rid of the first two batsmen quickly.

3) once murali comes into the attack with AUS at 50/2 or sth, SL will catch AUS by their neck mostly.

So go lankans go. defy the odds and prove the critiques wrong! i am with you re ke lastma :P

They have all odds in favor of them
Super aussie powerswill win it again
i can see gilchrist firing just like he has done to get australia to a flying start in the two previous final games

Go Aussie...a hatrick is on the offer!!!

Aus will win anyway.

WHY ARE AUSSIE THE FAVORITES TO WIN WC'07????

The answer is simple: Mental Tenacity and Positive Approach to game.

Compare Aussie game style to other team - Do they ever give margin to any sort of low performance in any game?

Simply, No. For them, every match is a must win. Killer Instinct.

What is the logic behind Sri Lankans decision to not play Vaas, Murali and Malinga in an earlier match? May be Malinga was hurt, but I'm sure they decided on rest two to keep 'em as a triumph card. In such a high fever game, you are not allowing ur bowlers to get feel of what ur opponent is capable of. They probably think their secret weapon can create surprises. Surprise would, in fact, hit them when Hayden and Ponting starts blasting their bowler all around keeping their fielders well engaged chasing boundry rope.

For the respect and intensity they bring to their game, Aussie deserve to win and they will, indeed.

Thanks,

NECTAR
I AGREE THAT AUSSIE ARE FAVORITES
BUT I DONT AGREE THAT EVERY GAME IS A MUST WIN FOR THEM AS LONG AS THEIR MAIN PLAYERS ARE FIT FOR WHAT THEY CONSIDER MORE IMPORTANT
IF EACH AND EVERY GAME WERE TO BE MUST WIN, MAJOR PLAYERS WOULD NOT HAVE AVOIDED THE NZ SERIES AHEAD OF THE WC

ANYWAY I AM AN AUSSIE FAN
CHEERS! WE GONNA WIN IT AGAIN!

What I meant was that no matter what the condition is they play to win games? It does not matter whether they have few injured or given rest, they will play to win as "must" given the resource at hand.

what i say is that just one bad day. and all will be gone...
one bad day for westindies at 1983 wc made them loose thier 3rd run for the cup, resulting india to win,.. and same thing happened in 1992, resulting a win for pakistan,
I am sick of aussies, i mean cricket must be a fun game, always aussies aussies... if they win again then there will be no more excitment abt cricket, one can easily predict that its australia again, so i hope srilanka must and should win this time around with all the big guns having their last worldcup,... i hope this wc final will be the most awaited match to watch, not like 1999 or 2003.....
common lankans.....

NOW ...no more interest in Cricket...WHO MADE THESE RULES??