The Aussie Juggernaut Continues:

Well! After 5 consecutive defeats before the World Cup, the Aussies are back to what they do best: Winning Matches and Winning Them Convincingly!
By winning the match against South Africa by 83 runs, the Aussies have proved to the world that they are still Numero Uno.

The Match: Smith won the toss and put Australia into bat as he was not sure of what would be a match winning total at this Ground(Warner Park, St Kitts). It proved to be costly as the Aussies plundered South African bowlers (including Pollock) to score a mammoth 377/6 in 50 overs.

Hayden was the main plunderer as he broke yet another record(The fastest World Cup century) while scoring a 101 off just 68 balls. Ponting and Clark also joined the party and scored 91 and 92 each. The South Africans left the ground pondering what went wrong with their bowling.

The Chase:South Africa started their chase with supreme confidence, they knew that it would be easy to clear the small boundaries at these grounds. So, Smith and De Villers took the Australian attack to the cleaners. Until the 14th over, nearly each over had at least a boundary or a Six in them. Even the miserly Mcgrath failed to contain the duo. De Villers was in sparkling form, he cut, pulled mercilessly, and ran singles with ease putting the pressure right back on Australia.

The Turning Point:The score was reading 160 for no loss after 20 overs, it seemed that Australia were set to lose yet another match after scoring 330+. But it wasn't to be. De Villers played the ball on the legside and quickly ran the first one, he should have respected the Aussie fielding and should have stayed at the non-strikers end. But he didn't and Shane Watson produced a superb Direct Hit which not only broke the stumps, but also the South African momentum.

South Africa still had a chance since the required rate was under 7.5 per over, but Smith had to retire due to medical reasons and the momentum that they had gathered begun to shatter. Kallis came in and he took his time to score his 48 runs( 63 balls!!!!). The slow scoring of Kallis and the early wicket of Herschelle Gibbs( The man who scored 173 against them in their previous encounter) put the game back in Australia's control.

Kallis proved to be a major factor in South Africa's defeat. Being a good batsman, he should have at least scored at run-a-ball. He didn't rotate the strike thus allowing Hogg to settle down and end South Africa's resistance.

Highlights: Hayden's aggressive knock (101 of 68) balls proved to be the innings that paved way for a mammoth total. Without his knock, Aussies would have scored 20-30 runs lesser thus handing over a psychological advantage.

AB De Villers knock of 92: he along with Graeme Smith threatened to take the match away from Australia. He was unfortunately run-out for 92, thanks to a superb throw from the deep(courtesy Watson). It proved to bad as Smith retired immediately and SA lost momentum due to some very slow scoring by Kallis.

Brad Hogg(3/61) and Nathan Bracken(2/40) bowled tightly and restricted South African batsman from scoring freely. Their combined tally of 5 wickets 101 runs from 19 overs proved to be the deciding factor of the match

Aussies have to be wary of South Africa, because South Africa have the firepower to not only beat Australia but Annihilate them. New Zealand are not far behind and so are Srilanka. So the World Cup, so far, has no serious contenders. I am waiting for the Super 8s to end. Only then can we at least guess the contender. My money would be any day on South Africa, or New Zealand, but Srilanka are not far behind.