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| March 14, 2003 | Friday | Muharram 10, 1424 |
Unbeaten Aussies still mean business
DURBAN, March 13: Ricky Ponting wants Australia to use their final Super Six match against Kenya on Saturday to show their remaining World Cup rivals that they still mean business.
With both sides already in the semifinals, the match in Durban has little meaning but Ponting said: “We can use the match to make a statement of intent for the rest of the tournament.
“If we can come out and play really well against a Kenya side that has just beaten Zimbabwe and given India a run for their money, it might mean something to the other sides we have still got to play,” the Australia captain said.
Ponting is also keen to see his top-order use the match profitably after they were skittled by New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond in their last match in Port Elizabeth.
“We played really well against Sri Lanka but not so well against New Zealand,” he said.
“Although we bowled and fielded well and won by a big margin, we did not bat well so, as a team and as individuals, there is a fair amount to gain from this match.”
Ponting is not expecting complacency from his players, despite a record-breaking streak of 14 One-day International wins and a match-up against a side Australia beat twice in a tri-series late last year.
“Pride in our performance has been an enormous factor in the way we have been performing and we could not have gone on this run of wins without that,” Ponting added.
“On top of that, the players have always been able to see the next incentive and that is no different coming into Saturday’s match.
“All the way through the preliminary round they could see the Super Six, then after the first win at that stage there was the semifinal.
“Everyone will want to perform to make sure they are ready for that big game.”
Ponting said he would sit down with several players, among them the bowlers, to see if they wanted a break ahead of that semifinal.
However, with the desire to maintain the side’s winning momentum, it is unlikely there will be many changes.
Replacement players Nathan Bracken and Nathan Hauritz have yet to figure in a match, while Jimmy Maher has played just twice.
Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds may create a selection dilemma after coming through a rigorous workout on his injured groin.
Symonds has missed the world champions’ last two matches but played a full part in practice at Kingsmead on Thursday as he batted, bowled spin and medium pace, fielded and even practiced running between the wickets.
“I feel fine and didn’t feel a thing. I am well and truly on the mend,” he said.
Providing Symonds suffers no reaction from the workout, the selectors will have to decide whether to recall him or persevere with Ian Harvey.
Symonds is likely to win the vote thanks to his explosive potential with the bat, something he showed in the first match of the tournament against Pakistan when he scored 143 not out from only 125 balls.
However, that would be tough on Harvey, who has bowled steadily in Australia’s last two matches, taking none for 29 against Sri Lanka and one for 15 against New Zealand.
Another alternative would be for both men to play if it is decided to rest several key players ahead of next Tuesday’s semifinal against either New Zealand or Sri Lanka in Port Elizabeth.
A win for Australia on Saturday would give them another record. It would be their 15th match without defeat, breaking their own record set in early 2000. That run included a rain-ruined game.
For Kenya, who became the first non-Test playing side to reach the last four of the World Cup when they beat Zimbabwe in Bloemfontein on Wednesday, the match against Australia will be another chance to showcase their talent at international level.
Wins over Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and now Zimbabwe have done their claims for Test status no harm but a good performance against the world champions would make the cricket world really sit up and take notice.
It is also an opportunity for Steve Tikolo’s side to get used to playing under lights at Durban, the venue for their day-night semifinal against India next Thursday.
Kenya and Australia have played three times, twice last year in Nairobi and in the 1996 World Cup in Vishakapatnam, won by Australia by 97 runs.
Tikolo is one of six Kenya survivors from that first game — the others are Kennedy Otieno, Maurice Odumbe, Hitesh Modi, Thomas Odoyo and Martin Suji — while Australia have three players still in action, Ponting, Michael Bevan and Glenn McGrath.
Ponting was full of praise for Kenya’s efforts.
“They are the only so-called minnow side to have really given it a crack and they are obviously having fun so good on them.”—Reuters
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