This promises to be a fantastic game, not just because it's possibly a
precursor to the final, not just because it's two arch rivals playing
each other, not just because of the long history behind them, but also
because it's a game where two team's strength's will be directly
matched against each other.
Or atleast, that's what Squadstats says
A) The Aussie Sledgehammer(s)
You
don't really need stats to tell you this, but figures help add some
context and perspective to the Aussies mighty showing with the bat this
series.
The Aussies average an overwhelming 295 per innings with the bat
this World Cup. Which means, each time they step out to bat, they can
expected to put up 295, and this on wickets that havn't exactly been
batting havens.
This is all the more interesting because two of their
frontline batsmen - Gilchrist and Hussey - have been scoring well below
their averages ( 17.89 and 48.53 respectively). The high scores have
come primarily on account of fantastic 50 to 100 conversion rates from
Ponting and Hayden (25 % and 66.67% respectively). Which means almost
every time either of these two crosses fifty, there is a hundred on
offer. And at strike rates of 97 and 110 respectively, these are gonna
be very very destructive hundreds.
The positive side of this for the Kiwis is that it is mainly two
batsmen who are scoring the bulk of the runs, rather than the entire
batting line up put together. Reserve your best bowlers for Ponting and
Hayden, get them early, and you have serious chance at restricting the
Aussies to some non-record shattering scores.
B) Aussie underbelly
Two
of the Aussie frontline bowlers, Bracken and Mc'Grath, have held
together a seemingly weak Aussie bowling line up and are averaging 13
and 12 better than the team average of 26 respectively. So they remain
the key bowlers for the Aussies.
However Mc'Grath hasn't been his usual miserly self and has
conceded at almost 5 runs per over - way too high by Mc'Grath
standards. Also, overall, the bowling concedes an average of 245 runs
per innings, which isn't exactly 'safe'.
Andrew Symonds has been their worst bowler on show with only 2
wickets in 20 overs at an average of 64.5. Considering that he hasn't
exactly set the stands on fire with the bat either (137 runs in 5
innings), he is a weak link the Kiwis will look to exploit.
C) Kiwi bowling
Bond
has a history of solid performances against the Aussies, and holds an
average of 13 and an economy rate of 2.5 in this World Cup. Stunning
stats by any yardstick.
Backing him up is Vettori, who has, in fact, taken more wickets
than Bond ( 15 against 12) although at a lower average (22) and an
expensive economy rate of 4.3 rpo.
However overall ,the Kiwi
bowling is impressive, and concedes only 190 runs on an average, which
is the best of any team in the tournament so far.
The Kiwi bowling stands to concede 190 against the Aussies who stand to concede 244.
The Kiwi batting stands to score 253 while the Aussies stand to score 295.
Doesn't require an expert in a fancy tie in an expensive studio to point out where the match can be won or lost.