On form, it should be easy for Australia

Sunil Gavaskar

It's going to be a clash of the antipodean neighbours for the ICC Champions Trophy being played in another southern hemisphere country, South Africa.

On form, it should be easy for the defending champions Australia to hold on to the trophy, but while the Ashes series is the one looked forward to by both Australian and England players, there is perhaps more needle in the Australia-New Zealand clashes than even in the Ashes matches.

For far too long, New Zealand have felt that they have been tagged as the little brother and they don't like it at all and are desperate to show the big brother that they are all grown up and can play as well if not better than them. This rivalry is not just in cricket, but in just about all walks of life, and so, expect plenty of fireworks in the final.

The Australians have got to the finals in style, coasting to an easy win in the semis against England which actually makes one wonder how they could have lost the Ashes to them.

Yes, England are without talismanic cricketer Andrew Flintoff, but, still the way the Aussies have hammered them in the limited-overs competitions after the Ashes loss reeks of revenge taken ruthlessly.

Full Coverage: Champions Trophy 2009

The one player to suffer the most from the Ashes series loss was Ricky Ponting since he got the dubious distinction of leading the teams losing two back to back Ashes tours to England.

He went away to Australia for bit of a breather and some introspection and returned to play the second half of the seven-match ODI series and his form since then has been stupendous.

He is one of the game's all-time greats, scoring tons of runs in both formats of the game and scoring at a rapid rate too.
He now has two centuries against England since his return from that short break and he looks a new person.

He seems to have come to terms with the loss, and the public support that he got from cricket Australia would have made him feel good too.

He is trying to repay the administartors for their faith in him by churning out centuries at will, and unless the Kiwis get him out soon in the final, they can kiss their chances of winning the Champions Trophy a second time good bye.
The last time the New Zealanders won the Champions Trophy was in Africa too when they did it in 2000 in Nairobi, Kenya. So, they will be hoping that the African magic will work again for them.

They have struggled with injuries to key players, but the manner in which they have regrouped is terrific and full credit to Daniel Vettori for the way he has bonded the team together.

Their batting looks a bit brittle, particularly, at the top of the order where McCullum has been disappointing.

He flails about for a few overs, but in limited overs cricket what is needed is someone at the top who can bat the majority of the overs and not play cameos.

New Zealand held their nerve admirably against Pakistan in the semis and the plan to play it carefully worked brilliantly.
They won all three of their matches at the Wanderers, but lost the only one they played at the Centurion.

The ICC Champions Trophy final is at the Centurion. Is that an omen for the Kiwis or what?