**Official** Semi Finals and Final

[Sir Redman]

NZ seem to stand up VS Australia players like Styris,McCullum,Vettori & Bond.

McCullum, Vettori and Bond I'll give you, but Styris is a big choker vs Australia. Averages 16 from 20 games against them. Until he scored that hundred in our last game against them it was even worse - 202 runs at 11.88 from 19 games. In the last few years Fleming's also been a failure vs Aus, McGrath and Lee have been all over him. Generally speaking, our batsmen seem to wilt vs Australia but our bowlers seem to do a bit better.

 

[Retox]

I always thought he did better.. Hmm. Nevermind that then

Time for Fulton to stand up then

 

[honestbharani]

My pick is Australia Vs RSA in the finals, Australia to sneak through in a close match and take home the only trophy they have never won.

 

[Sir Redman]

Time for Fulton to stand up then

And Marshall. And Oram. And Vincent and Astle and Mills and Patel...

I'm not too confident about this game to be honest. Our batting has looked far too shaky this tournament. Too reliant on Fleming.

 

[Retox]

And Marshall. And Oram. And Vincent and Astle and Mills and Patel...

I'm not too confident about this game to be honest. Our batting has looked far too shaky this tournament. Too reliant on Fleming.

Mills and Patel have been bowling well.
Vincent is hit and miss but he needs to fire
Marshall I agree with
Can't complain about Oram based on his last game
Astle is coming to the end of it, After the world cup he is gone.

 

[Steulen]

Have to agree that it's very likely Australia will take this one missing trophy home, now they've managed to get out of their group. A big win over the Kiwis and revenge over the Windies in a close final, I'd say.

 

[Bahnz]

It's starting to look like Styris might be injured and out of the competition, which means Ross Taylor will replace him in the squad. Do you reckon he should be included in the team, if this occurs? On the one hand a semi-final against Australia is a big step up for a young kid who won't have played competitively for 7 or 8 months. On the other, he's got a lot of talent, and both Marshall and particularly Fulton have been in poor form.

I'd give him a go, personally. The more chances he gets to prove himself in pressure conditions before the world cup, the better. Having said all that, I now predict Styris will make a full recovery by Wednesday.

 

[Poker Boy]

Who would have thought it - no Asian team in SF of an Asian hosted tournament? What a contrast with SL 2002. As for what we've got the days back in the 2002 VB series when NZ were a jinx to Australia are long gone - add the fact that Fleming is easy meat for McGrath and it should be Australia. The other SF is closer but WI to edge it. I think Jaipur suits their batting strength - had it been in seamer-friendly Mohali SA would have been my tip. As for the Final - a repeat of the 1975 WC F -but with a different result.

 

[Perm]

Scott Syris is out of the Semifinal against Australia, atleast that is what I heard on the radio this morning. No word on whether or not Ross Taylor has officially replaced him in the squad, but if he is the replacement for Styris I wouldn't throw him at the Australian's, tempting as it may be. While Fulton hasn't been in the best of form he is a class player and should be given another chance, Vincent will go out cheaply trying to play a big shot after McGrath has tied him down for a few overs.

Really, it's not looking that positive for the Black Caps and unless Bond is fully fit and bowls well I can see is losing but a reasonable margin. I am predicting Bond to destroy the Australian top order but I think that players like Clarke, Symonds and Hussey will have too much class for us if we do run through the top order. I'm predicting Australia and South Africa to win, with Australia winning the final.

 

[Tim]

Its almost certain that Taylor will replace Styris for the rest of the tournament. It will be tempting for Bracewell to chuck Taylor in the semi final because he's a flair player and there's a chance he could come off. But we should not be in this position because Hamish Marshall should have form behind him due to a season of County cricket.

I reckon they'll go for Hamish Marshall.

 

[Matt52]

I think they will go for Marshall too, although I heard he missed the last game with a virus, so Taylor has a chance. It will be interesting.

 

[aussie]

The Bond vs the Australian top-order should be interesting, especially with Ponting. Hopefully bloody Bond is fit

 

[Tim]

Bracewell pretty much shot himself in the foot too by playing Franklin for the entire tournament and not giving Gillespie a go. His only real option is to replace Franklin with Patel now.

 

[Tim]

I wouldn't discount Vettori vs Australia either. He's had a pretty ordinary tournament but usually he saves his best for Australia.

 

[Matt52]

Bracewell took a long time to put McCullum into the test team as well. Robbie Hart played for quite a few games. He did OK but McCullum was clearly the better player. Bracewell doesnt seem to go much on form, or talent or who was the best player or who is likely to win us the most games, or ...........anything else except who was ikn the team last time......, OK, maybe i am being a bit harsh but it seems difficult for him to change the team. Marshall is an example .........

 

[Sir Redman]

Bracewell pretty much shot himself in the foot too by playing Franklin for the entire tournament and not giving Gillespie a go. His only real option is to replace Franklin with Patel now.

Bracewell shooting himself in the foot? Some things never change...

 

[Sir Redman]

Assuming Marshall is over his virus, I'm almost certain he'll get picked over Taylor. And unless the pitch looks like it will turn I think Bracewell will pick Franklin again, though Patel's a far better prospect in ODIs.

Also, I'm fully expecting to hear that Bond will be ruled out, whether its a hamstring strain/sore back/virus/smallpox or whatever he hasn't had yet.

 

[lord_of_darkness]

Go the kiwis..!...and they should definately pick patel to go along with vettorri..

 

[Bahnz]

If Marshall's fit, he'll be in the team no matter what. The player Taylor would replace is Fulton. Not that keen on Fulton personally. He hasn't really done anything of note since that Sri Lanka one day series at the start of the year. If he were in the team, I wouldn't predict that he'd score too runs.

 

[thedarkmullet]

I'm really confident the Kiwis are gonna pull this one off, especially if we chase a total.

I figure that while our top order may be a bit shakey against them the teams still really well engineered for a run chase, especially with the likes of Vettori and McCullum who always seem to produce the goods vs the ozzies.