Who will stop the Aussie Juggernaut??

Well, the Kangaroos have demolished all their opponents so far in this world cup. But time has come to put an end to their long winning streak. But who? Will it be the unpredictable Proteas in the semis? Or will it be the roaring Lankans or the hard fighting Kiwis in the final?

The South Africans are the strongest contenders to beat Australia, because history backs them. They have always been the unlucky team in the world cups, but this might just be their cup! In 1975, the Caribbeans came from the brink of getting knocked out of the world cup, to go on to win the cup! History repeated itself when the underdogs of 1983 world cup led by Kapil Dev snatched the coveted cup! Then in 1992, the Pakistan team came from nowhere to beat all the odds and win the world cup, inspired by the legendary Imran Khan! Then in 1999, the Australians fought back from the jaws of defeat led by the shrewd Waugh.All these teamswere almost out of the tounament before they bounced back to win the cup in alternate editions.This points to a fact that this year the winner will be the team who has seen the doors of exit and that is none other than South Africa.

The Proteas are the ones whom the Aussies fear the most given the form of Smith and Gibbs.One can never forget the way in which they chased down the mammoth 434.This world cup has not been the best for the Proteas.But they always give their best when the situation demands,with great players Kallis,Pollock,Boucher etc in great form.

The Lankans are also capable of upsetting the Aussies.The Aussies have only lost two tournament finals in the last decade and one amongst them was the Islanders beating them inthe 1996 finals.Australians only weakness is spin,which is the biggest strength of Srilankans in the form of the wily Muttiah Muralitharan.On their day they can beat any team convincingly.Srilanka is the most complete team in this world cup ,given their varied bowling attack suiting all types of pitches.With Jayasuriya ,Malinga and evergreen Murali intremendous form they have had a great run in this world cup .They were tamed only by the Aussies and a revenge is overdue.

The Kiwis were the hot favourites till they were demolished by the Aussies.They were lucky with the toss when they came against the big boys in this cup.They would more of this luck to beat two top teams in consecutive matches.The biggest challenge is the match against Srilankans where they will be up against the spin wizard Murali.


It seems that the Kangaroos are unstoppable.But history points to yet another upset in this edition of world cup.A SouthAfrican triumph will be a perfect tribute to Bob Woolmer who made them what they are now.