The battle for the T20 Ashes?

The final of the ICC World T20 will see the Aussies take on England, in a match-up that would have been difficult to visualize at the start of the tournament. With all the talks of how the tracks in the tournament would play a tad slower than most of those around and assist the Asian sides.

All of that nonsense was put to rest as Barbados made life miserable for the sub-continent sides, and despite Pakistan and Sri Lanka qualifying for the semi-finals that were played on the slower, St. Lucia pitches, the mental scars that the sides like Australia and England had earlier inflicted were enough to take them through to the finals.

Australia:
Australia got to the final thanks to a freak show of batting by Michael Hussey. At, almost no stage, during the Australian run-chase against Pakistan in the semi-final, did it look like the Australian side was going to win the game against Pakistan and yet, the match turned around in the last three overs. Michael Hussey was the obvious key and that meant that the side was through to the final.

And it is not only about the way they played in semi-final. In almost every game of the tournament, they have fought adversity and the batsmen have rescued the side, after the bowlers have bossed over the opposition. And despite this so-called adversity, Australia has looked invincible, except in that final game against Pakistan.

It will be difficult for England to beat Australia in the final, given that their batting and bowling have both, gelled, together like nobody’s business. Unless, of course, none of the top-seven, class batsmen of the side fail and the bowling just comes apart!

Players to look out for:
Michael Clarke has yet to play a substantial innings. It will also be interesting to see how England play Steven Smith.

England:
They have had a tournament of their lives. Apart from losing a Duckworth-Lewis inflicted encounter to West Indies, they have won four successive games in the tournament to get here, and there cannot be any doubt that they deserve to be in the final.

Their batting has revolved around Kevin Pietersen and Eoin Morgan, but will need a couple of others to be able to challenge the Aussies. The thing with Pietersen is that he is not only in a good form of batting but also loves a challenge or two that should assist him and his side against their traditional rivals.

Where the side may be troubled is with their pace bowling attack which could prove to be the difference between the two teams. While Ryan Sidebottom, Stuart Broad and Tim Bresnan have had their bit of their contribution, they will need to rise much higher in this game; an early couple of wickets will help the two spinners, Michael Yardy and Graeme Swann to do later damage.

Players to look out for:
The English openers have to get going as a part and despite getting the starts, Craig Kieswetter and Michael Lumb have not gone on to get the big one. Michael Yardy could make batting difficult for Australia.

Game begins at 9.00 pm IST on Sunday!