Chemistry just right Neither Australia nor Pakistan will roll over and die Click here for more on this story Posted: Friday June 18, 1999 04:34 PM   Saeed Anwar and the Pakistanis will face a much different Autrailian team than they faced earlier in the tournament. AP By Tunku Varadarajan, CNN/SI Lance Klusener will one day blast a hundred in thirty balls. South Africa will one day play in the World Cup finals. But neither will happen this Sunday and the heart bleeds for South Africa. I am convinced, however that the menu we now have -- Australia versus Pakistan -- will provide fare that should be more delicious, more mouth-watering, than a match between Akram's men and the South Africans would have done. The chemistry is perfect for an explosive clash. Australia, after a slothful start to the tournament, is playing formidably. When the teams last met, in their Group B face-off, the Australians were a different side. Warne was not at his mordant best, and the team's think-tank made some serious errors. Martyn and Lehmann were entrusted with part of the fifth bowler's quota, and were carted all over Headingley by Inzamam. Even more crassly, McGrath did not open the bowling. He will do so on Sunday, and if he can take out Saeed Anwar as quickly as he did Tendulkar, Pakistan will be on the ropes. With Warne looking prime, the Aussie attack is now sharper than it has been at any other time in this World Cup. The Pakistanis do not play spin as well as the Indians do, and apart from Anwar and Akram, theirs is a side packed with right-handers. Warne must be licking his lips -- zinc cream and all! The Pakistanis resemble a horde of Huns, and have laid utter waste to the last two sides they played. Akram -- their Attilla -- is leading the charge from the front. But the Australians will not roll over and die, as both Zimbabwe and New Zealand did. Pakistan will have to raise its game by yet another notch if it is to win. A fit Youhana, restored to the side, should bring much-needed backbone to the middle-order. He will, I assume, play instead of Afridi, who has proved that he is but a flat-track bully. I would suggest another change, a daring change: Pakistan should play Mushtaq Ahmed instead of either Abdur Razzaq or Azhar Mahmood. I'd drop the latter: there's not much between the two so far as bowling is concerned, but Razzaq has batted better throughout. Ultimately, this match will turn on how well the Aussies cope with the first ten overs they face. Shoaib is at his furious best, but the men from Down Under play pace better than anyone else on the planet. As a neutral, I can't wait to see Shoaib hurtling in to bowl to Steve Waugh. I can't wait either, to watch Warne fizzing them at Inzamam. These are two star-studded teams, bursting with self-belief, passionately patriotic, led by bristling, bustling captains. The tied semifinal was an incomparable game of cricket. But Sunday's final could yet be the match of the tournament.   Related information Stories Individual performance Predicting semifinalists World Cup groups intriguing this time around One-day cricket less popular than tests Terry Baddoo: Nothing's sacred to the media Multimedia Click here for the latest audio and video Search our site Watch CNN/SI 24 hours a day Sports Illustrated and CNN have combined to form a 24 hour sports news and information channel. To receive CNN/SI at your home call 1-888-53-CNNSI.

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