world cup five-fer: day 33

Muralitharan - why was he really omitted?

By Tristan Holme

1. Baffling selection
Tom Moody hinted at it in yesterday's press conference, admitting that Sri Lanka would be keeping their cards close to their chest, basically because they believe this game was a dress rehearsal for the final on April 28.

Should that turn out to be the case, and should Sri Lanka go on to lift the trophy, then this will be hailed as the greatest tactical masterstroke of the tournament. But if Sri Lanka meet New Zealand in the semis and lose then it could be labelled the worst, given that victory today would have given Sri Lanka a shot at finishing top of the Super Eights.

It's clear that the decision to omit Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas was not so much to give them rest as to deny the Aussies practice in facing them, and Ricky Ponting was clearly taken aback at the toss when he blabbered on about how Australia 'had named their best team'.

Of course leaving them out looked like an even better call after Sri Lanka posted such a meagre total, which even with a full-strength bowling attack would have been almost impossible to defend.

Mahela Jayawardene insisted in the post-match press conference that the players were in fact rested, but it's difficult to believe given that they've played just five games in the last 23 days.

2. Nathan Bracken
He's been there for every game but one in this tournament and yet he doesn't often set the world alight. Devoid of outright pace, Bracken reminds me of former Zimbabwe player Bryan Strang in the way he uses the angle of his left-armers to to make it extremely difficult for batsmen to get him away.

The result is a tournament average of just 13 (the best of any Australian in this World Cup), and a run rate of 3.32 that puts Shaun Tait's 5.66 to shame.

His greatest strength is his consistency, a facet in which he has surpassed even Glenn McGrath, who went for a staggering (by his standards) 62 from 9.5 overs against England. In that match it was Bracken who prevented England from getting an even bigger 30-over total than they achieved courtesy of Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen.

And with Tait spraying it all over the place today Bracken was again the saviour, picking up crucial early wickets to put Australia in the driving seat from a very early stage. He may wear an alice band, but he's now convinced me that he's worth his place in the side at the expense of Stuart Clark and Mitchell Johnson.

3. Mahela Jayawardene
The way in which he celebrated reaching 50 was as if he'd just hit the winning runs, which was peculiar given that Sri Lanka were far from out of the woods.

Having come into the tournament with question marks over his form, it was good to see the man scoring runs when his side needed them most and it clearly meant a lot to him.

But save it for when the job is done and dusted - the moment when victory is achieved - before you go making little gestures towards a side that are sure to get their own back on you when they spot a bit of gloating.

Otherwise the rest of us must endure the backlash of an already fairly arrogant side once they've exacted retribution.

4. Sri Lanka's replacement bowlers
I've already speculated that they might have the best bowling attack at the tournament, but it's clear that that is not the case once you include the back-up bowlers in that equation.

I'm a big fan of right-arm wrist spinners like Malinga Bandara, but it's pretty clear why he doesn't get much game time even in tandem with Murali - he just doesn't have the control.

Meanwhile Farveez Maharoof and Nuwan Kulasekara are distinctly average and even Dilhara Fernando struggled today, leaving Russel Arnold of all people to do what damage was done by the Sri Lankans.

5. Ricky Ponting
While his opposite number was at pains to deny that his side had left out Vaas and Murali for reasons other than rest and found himself constantly on the back foot, Ponting understandably exuded confidence in the post-match press conference.

Turning everything into a positive for Australia is one of the things that he does best, and of course it's difficult to argue with him when Australia are winning so convincingly.

However his best point was that while Sri Lanka may have rested their best bowlers, they had included all of their top batsmen and yet the Aussies had still bowled them out for just 226. With everyone knowing that Sri Lanka always had an excuse for losing this game, this response from Ponting was enough to squash it like a despicable little bug.

After looking slightly flustered at the toss, by the time the fat lady had sung Ponting was his usual self, saying that he didn't care what other teams did as the Aussies would keep concentrating on ensuring that they do their absolute best to take the trophy home once again.

For the neutrals among us, that looks like a disturbing inevitability at this stage.