Captain Steve made all the difference

Many will no doubt, especially after the result, start singing praises of Australia as to how they were the stronger team mentally and how well they held their nerves in the match. But let8217;s face it, at the outset, the game was a tie. Nobody won it. Australia went through on technicality.

Paul Reiffel dropped two catches in the closing stages. Only one reason for it 8212; nerves. Why even that last run out was actually a miss byMark Waugh in the first instance and isn8217;t Mark Waugh supposed to have the best hands in the team?

So, there you see at the end, everybody out in the middle was a bundle of nerves. Great one-day game but with a tragic end for the South Africans.Australia had to depend heavily on the services of their two great cricketers to pile some early pressure on the formidable South African outfit 8211; Steve Waugh with the bat and Shane Warne with the ball.

I often wonder why many are shy to use the adjective quot;greatquot; before Steve Waugh8217;s name. I think he has done enough by now to be acknowledged as the very best 8211; one who is right up there with the Laras and Tendulkars.As Ian Chappell rightly said, Waugh looks and also believes himself to be invincible against the South Africans. The Aussie skipper has an excellent record against the Proteas which reaffirms his greatness. It used to be the West Indies earlier, now it is the South Africans who are the real test at the international level. As for Shane Warne, he struckin the semis and Australia qualified for the 1996 World Cup final. He again struck in the semis, and Australia qualified for the 1999 World Cup final. Great cricketers pick the big games to make a mark. Warne has done just that.There is no doubt that he is not the same bowler he was three years back. But even when not at his best, Warne was good enough for the South Africans, who really aren8217;t spinner-friendly batsmen. It was his exemplary spell of leg spin bowling that saw the Aussies coming back into the game after not scoring enough. Coming to the closing stages of the game, one saw two giants of world cricket trying to match each other and there was very little to chose between the two.

South Africa had a slight edge and it was Lance Klusener. This guy has been quite amazing. His power-hitting in this World Cup has clearly shown how quickly the game is changing. You are getting to see shots being played these days more from Lance Klusener than anyone else which were never seen earlier.

A man havingan incredible run with the bat had to come out yet again in a crisis and expected to bail his team out. What would you expect? Come on, it8217;s impossible for someone to do it everytime. The famous law of averages has to catch up with him, isn8217;t it?

No, he repeats his blitz. This time though falling short. Klusener8217;s exploits with the bat will be an everlasting memory from this World Cup.Australia had a player and captain like Steve Waugh in their side as opposed to their rivals. In the end that was the difference that saw Australia go to the Lord8217;s. If not for that phenomenal unbeaten innings of 120 at Headingley by the Australian captain, one would have easily seen a South Africa-Pakistan final. No one would have disputed the worthiness of those finalists either.

South Africa can now take solace from the fact that yes, they did not win the Cup but they did win a lot of hearts. But watching Hansie Cronje in that post match interview, it was obvious hearts are just not good enough.Are they, Hansie?