April 28, 2007	Saturday	Rabi-us-Sani 10, 1428

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NEW DELHI, April 27: Australia are the favourites to win another World Cup title on Saturday.

But here, AFP Sports lists eleven reasons — some serious, some not — why Sri Lanka must defeat the Aussies in the final, a feat they achieved 11 years ago in cricket's showpiece event:

— To justify the ICC’s insistence on having a 51-match, 47-day marathon when they could have chosen the easier option — hand the trophy to Australia at the start itself.

— To provide a grand finale to the least-watched cricket World Cup in history. TV viewership dropped nearly 40 percent compared to the 2003 edition, according to industry estimates.

— To delight the rest of the cricket world and billions of passionate fans from Kingston to Karachi and Manchester to Mumbai who support their own teams or anyone that plays against Australia.

— To justify pre-World Cup boasts by most rivals, including minnows Ireland, that Australia were a beatable side. They have not only won all their 10 matches so far, but Matthew Hayden scored more runs (621) and Glenn McGrath claimed more wickets (25) than anyone else in the competition.

— To prove that Australia's five consecutive losses against England and New Zealand before the World Cup were not a flash in the pan. Even though the champions were resting star players like captain Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist.

— To prevent cricket from becoming a yawn. After all, even the diehard get tired of watching one team win all the time. Australia have not lost a World Cup match since May, 1999 and now chase their third consecutive title.

— To justify the age-old saying that cricket, especially the limited-overs variety, is an unpredictable sport. There is nothing more predictable in the game than an Australian win.

— To bring joy, solace and peace to their strife-torn nation. The Tamil Tiger rebels called a truce for the duration of Tuesday's semi-final against New Zealand so that everyone could follow the match on television. It may happen again on Saturday.

— Sri Lanka will be popular winners. Australians are unpopular, rude, arrogant. So says Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar, the ICC's pointman for all cricket-related matters.

— Do it for Bob. Slain Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer spent a lifetime, first as England batsman and then as South Africa's coach, plotting Australia's downfall without any success. His widow, Gill, wanted South Africa to win the semi-final. The grief-stricken lady deserves a better deal.

— Finally, Sri Lanka must win it for themselves. They have played outstanding cricket and deserve to be the final – as the second-best team in the tournament.—AFP