This match was probably the best of matches yet played in this world cup. We saw tremendous effort put in by the Zimbabwean side during both phases of the match. The Zimbabwean team opted to attack with spinners which payed off therefore they restricted Australian side to an achievable target. The Aussies batted first and started extra cautiously which was unnecessary. They achieved their 100 runs by 26th over which is very late considering the pace of batting these days. Moreover the Aussie batsmen save Ponting seemed reluctant to play spinners and at one stage it was felt that they may not even reach 250. . A lot of credit goes to the captaincy of Zimbabwean captain who managed his team very well against one of the best teams of world. The Zimbabwean on the whole performed very energetically in the field. It was however disappointing to see Aussies go extra defensive against spinners. Their wickets kept on falling at regular interval in-spite of such careful strategy. This kind of strategy may not work against better bowling sides.
When it comes to Aussie bowling they just proved the their captain's statement which he had made before the world cup. They showed us what a good pace bowling attack can do no matter what the pitch conditions are. Zimbabwean team struggled with their batting. There were some immaculate shots played and individual players put up a good fight but overall not partnership stood long enough to make a difference. The Aussies in the field were outstanding. It was treat for eyes to see the fielding of both the teams. Overall it was a technically sound match which exceeded our expectations though the results were pre-expected. One last thing which is worth mentioning here is that unlike the previous matches there were a lot of not out decisions changed during the review which shows the importance of introduction of this rule to one day internationals.
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