Grand finale today (20 June 1999)

20 June 1999

Grand finale today

Tony Cozier

London - After 41 matches over six weeks at 21 different grounds, the two most fitting teams have qualified to contest the seventh World Cup final today at Lord's, where the first was played out 24 years ago virtually to the day.

Australia have proved themselves the most resilient and determined of the 12 contenders.

Pakistan, accompanied by their noisy, joyous green army of supporters, have been the most exciting, if also the most unpredictable.

They both bring to the original home of cricket wonderful players capable of turning the course of a match with one innings or one spell of bowling, as has happened several times along the way.

And they are led by the toughest, most resolute and most experienced cricketers in the contemporary game: Steve Waugh, the only survivor of Australia's only previous triumph in 1987, and Wasim Akram, part of Pakistan's victory in the 1992 final.

For both, the motivation of glory is strong in what almost certainly will be their last World Cup.

By his every word and deed, Waugh is revealed as a proud patriot who seeks glory for Australia. For Akram, there is an even greater inducement.

He knows the ominous cloud of match-fixing allegations that have hung over him and some of his players for some time would disappear in the euphoria that would envelop his cricket-besotted country.

The appetite of the 30 000 at Lord's, and the millions around the world watching on television, has been whetted by Thursday's heart-pumping semifinal and they will expect nothing less.

There is, on such occasions, always the danger of anti-climax, but the several battles within a battle between the best on both sides diminishes that prospect.

Shaoib Ahktar, the Rawalpindi Express, tearing in to fire his new-ball rockets at Mark Waugh, or Glenn McGrath responding in kind to Saeed Anwar will immediately set the pulse racing.

Inzamam-ul-Haq thumping his powerful strokes around the ground while keeping his partners on their toes with his erratic running has been one of the most fascinating images of the tournament.

Steve Waugh and Michael Bevan demonstrating the art of One-Day batting at its best is a lesson to look forward to.

And we can be sure Ricky Ponting and Abdul Razzaq will give a preview of what we can expect from the young generation.

Most of all, Shane Warne twirling his leg-breaks to batsmen who aren't cowed by him, as the South Africans were, and Saqlain Mushtaq spinning his mysterious web are the most engaging exhibitions of all.

It is such encounters that make it the ideal match.

Justifiable pre-tournament favourites, South Africa did nothing to impair that assessment and would have been worthy finalists with their incomparable fielding and all-round depth. Two blunders during the week that will forever haunt them blocked their path.

Herschelle Gibbs' botched catch at Headingley last Sunday when Steve Waugh was not yet half of his unbeaten 120 and the panic-stricken last over run-out at Headingley on Thursday opened the door for Australia, first to the semifinal and then to the final.

On tournament form, there is nothing to separate today's combatants.

The Waugh twins and Ponting are three Australians with over 300 runs. Saeed Anwar, with two hundreds in succession coming into the final, is the only Pakistani. But among the strike rates of crucial late-order hitters, Pakistan (Moin Khan and Akram) outscore Australia (Tom Moody) 2-1.

The wickets for the key bowlers are uncannily similar.

The pace spearheads, McGrath and Shaoib, and the spin wizards, Warne and Saqlain have each taken 16. Of the back-up crew, Akram has 14 and Azhar Mahmood 13 for Pakistan; Damien Fleming 13 for Australia.

In their only previous match, Pakistan beat Australia by 10 runs in a wonderful, high-scoring scrap at Headingley. That was when Australia were passing through their early trough and followed an upset loss to New Zealand.

Waugh then called his men together and told them the stark truth: they had to win their next seven matches to reach the final. They did just that since the tied seventh match was as good as a win.

Pakistan were at their best early, sweeping their first three matches, then lost their way with three successive defeats but have come back with two massive victories.

So what will separate them?

There was a lot of talk from both camps over the past couple of days of mental toughness but it amounts to nothing more than simply talk.

"We've been on the road for nine months now and I haven't been home for 120 days," Steve Waugh said. "If we were mentally weak, we would have succumbed before now.

"We knew we had to win seven games in a row to win the Cup and you don't get more pressure than having to beat the West Indies, India and South Africa, and that's what we have done."

That's all true, and Waugh has led from the front with his focused determination to secure the Cup for Australia. But there was as much panic among the Australians in the nerve-wracking closing overs last Thursday, with missed catches and run-outs, as they was among the South Africans.

If they have to face such drama again, they say they are better prepared.

But luck, as much as mental strength, determined the outcome in the semifinal and could again.

Akram has countered by noting that Australia would have to be tired mentally and physically drained by their two encounters against South Africa.

"They've had to win game after game just to stay in the competition and that brings a lot of stress," the Pakistan captain said. "If they are confident, we are even more confident."

Akram claimed that Australia's Achilles heel is the lack of a specialist fifth bowler to follow McGrath, Fleming, Paul Reiffel and Warne. Moody's medium-pace, Michael Bevan's left-arm wrist spin, and Mark Waugh's off-spin have all be used as back-ups.

"That's a weakness we do not have," he added.

After the lightning-fast Shaoib and himself end their new ball spells, Akram can turn to the fast-medium quality of Mahmood and Abdul Razzaq and the off-spin of Saqlain.

Akram has a point, but it does not factor in the wides and no-balls that could well prove Pakistan's greatest handicap today.

They gave up 29 (17 wides, 12 no-balls) in the semifinal against New Zealand, 27 (14 wides and 13 no-balls) when beaten by South Africa in the Super Sixes and 21 (14 wides and seven no-balls) in their first round win over Australia.

The grand final doesn't deserve to be settled by extras. If it can live up to the first in 1975 that gave us Clive Lloyd's memorable 103, Viv Richards' three spectacular run-outs, a pulsating finish and much else besides, it would be a fitting climax.

The only shame is that the West Indies aren't there anymore.

Source :: The Barbados Nation (https://www.nationnews.com/)