Australia are on an 11-match winning run, can score deep into the innings and have enviable strength in their bowling
On one side of Sunday’s upcoming World Cup final is the inevitable. In 50-over cricket, the Australians march on like Darth Vader: more machine now than human, twisted and evil. You could argue that’s overstated, but they do have an imposing relentlessness. After having their world record winning streak of 26 matches broken back in September, Australia immediately set about building the next one. It currently sits at 11, including an unblemished eight wins through this cup campaign. Their semi-final against West Indies was a thrashing.
On the other side of the coin is the unlikely. A few months ago the defending champions were expected to challenge for this prize, but England wobbled through the Ashes like a one-wheeled tricycle, lost their first three World Cup games, then stumbled backwards into two of the wins they needed to make the top four. Their semi-final was against South Africa, a team running hot whose only loss in the tournament was a competitive one against Australia. But when the South Africans dropped Danni Wyatt five times, England’s opener had almost no choice but to make a match-winning century.
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