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Australia all set to begin its campaign

G. Viswanath

A torrid pace test awaits the Zimbabweans in Lee, Tait and Johnson

— Photo: K. Bhagya Prakash

Marathon MAN:Ricky Ponting, seen practising at the Sardar Patel Stadium on Sunday, will play a record 40th World Cup match when he leads Australia against Zimbabwe.

Ahmedabad: Ricky Ponting and his team, looking forward to a fourth consecutive title triumph, will start their World Cup campaign against Zimbabwe at Motera here on Monday.

Australia has been a great force in World Cup cricket. It has won the Cup in India, England, South Africa and the West Indies. Furthermore it's yet to be defeated by an opponent since the match against Pakistan at Leeds in 1999 when the clever left-arm seamer Wasim Akram and canny off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq took seven wickets in a thrilling league match.

Shrugging off the setback, Australia, ably marshalled by Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting, has proceeded to establish a firm grip on the World Cup for 12 years winning 29 matches.

In the course of the long period of domination, Australia created several heroes notably David Boon, Geoff Marsh, Craig McDermott, Mark Waugh, Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist, Brad Hogg and Ponting.

The strong-willed Tasmanian has the distinction of leading his team to victory in two consecutive World Cups in 2003 and 2007 and sharing a unique honour with Clive Lloyd who won the Prudential Cup for the West Indies in 1975 and 79.

Big blow

But the injury to Michael Hussey and off-spinner Nathan Hauritz was a big blow. Since Ponting held the silverware at Barbados following a match-winning 149 by Gilchrist in the final against Sri Lanka in the previous edition, Australia's fortunes in the Test matches have been on the decline; the Ashes series in particular. But it is still on top in the ICC One-Day International rankings.

Its recent 6-1 win over England is an affirmation of its exalted standing with Shane Watson and Brett Lee leading from the front. In the absence of Ponting, because of a finger injury, Michael Clarke and Cameron White shared captaincy duties, but the Tasmanian is back at the helm and exuded confidence on the eve of the match against Zimbabwe.

The African nation has lost 25 of its 27 matches against Australia; its solitary win was fashioned by Duncan Fletcher in the 1983 World Cup match at Trent Bridge. One odd match between the two teams did not produce a result.

A few days ago Zimbabwe's bowling coach Heath Streak, reflecting on the tough opening match, said that Australia was far from being an underdog and that his team would try not to be a pushover.

At the press conference here on Sunday, coach Alan Butcher, took the possibilities a little further saying that should both the teams play to their potential, Zimbabwe could finish second in the match.

From Australia's point of view, Ponting's return to form scoring a half-century against India at Bangalore despite a finger injury has been happy news.

Spin attack

The Australian batsmen would be put through the wringer of spin on Monday against such names as Raymond Price, Prosper Utseya and Graeme Cremer. Australia hopes Ponting — set to play a record 40th World Cup match — and Clarke would show it the way in tackling the spinners.

While Australia is expected to ease through on Monday, Zimbabwe, a trifle unfortunate to have been drawn against the four-time champion in the opening match, may actually fancy its chances against New Zealand here on March 4.

But before that Elton Chigumbura's team has to beat Canada at Nagpur on February 28.

But Zimbabwe has geared up to face a torrid pace attack in Lee, Shaun Tait and Mitchell Johnson.

The teams (from): Australia: Ricky Ponting (captain), Shane Watson, Brad Haddin, Michael Clarke, Callum Ferguson, Cameron White, David Hussey, Brett Lee, Shaun Tait, Mitchell Johnson, Steve Smith, Jason Krejza, Doug Bollinger, John Hastings, Tim Paine.

Zimbabwe: Elton Chigumbura (captain), Brendon Taylor, Charles Coventry, Tatenda Taibu, Greg Lamb, Craig Ervine, Sean Williams, Regis Chakabva, Prosper Utseya, Graeme Cremer, Shingirai Masakadza, Chris Mpofu, Raymond Price, Terry Duffin, Tinashe Panyangara.

Umpires: Asoka de Silva (Sri Lanka) and Richard Kettleborough (England); Third umpire: Amish Saheba (India); Fourth: Simon Taufel (Australia); Match Referee: Jeff Crowe (New Zealand) .

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