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Australia awesome

Awesome is the buzz word in modern Australian idiom to describe outstanding deeds of brilliance and power. And indeed it is an apt word to describe Australia's one-day performance this season. They surprisingly lost the first match of the one-day series against Pakistan and never looked like getting beaten thereafter. They were absolutely brilliant in the finals and swamped Pakistan in every department of the game.

Melbourne was easy, but Sydney was just a walkover. Undoubtably these two finals were the most one-sided since this competition was introduced 20 years ago. The general public must feel cheated for the only value they got was from the Australians.

Perhaps the most impressive part of Australian victory has been its simplicity. The Aussies are very good at doing everything right and do not make simple stupid or mistakes. All the Australian bowlers exert great pressure on the batsmen by obeying the basic fundamentals of line and length. When you back this pin point pressure accurately up with brilliant fielding it doesn't surprise when the batsmen succumb.

Pakistan never looked like getting into the second finals once they dropped both Gilchrist and Ponting early. In scoring their highest one-day international score ever, they did it with hallmark Australian batting. They were brilliant between the wickets and concentrated on hitting the ball through the field rather than over. They were very controlled and it wasn't until the last few overs that they tried big shots every ball. A very impressive performance all round.

On the other hand Pakistan were most disappointing and perhaps turned in the worst fielding I have ever seen from an international side. They were pathetic, whether it was on the ground, in the air or when they were throwing to the stumps. Personally I found it embarrassing and more mistakes were made in this match than you would normally expect in a season. They were woeful and their bowling wasn't much better either. International bowlers at the very least should be able to bowl line and length. Pakistan couldn't even bowl on one side of the wicket and as a result captain Wasim Akram found it impossible to set fields. Australia were deserved winners of this season because they never lost sight of their goals.

(Gameplan)

Bobby Simpson