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So here we are almost six weeks of sometimes tedium sometimes amazing excitement is coming to its climax.

Who do we have left? unsurprisingly some would say 3 out of four subcontinental teams and the lucky blackcats.

Once again NZ punch above their weight but seem to have a balanced attack and bat extremely deep with bangers right down to number 9 as long as they stay in the game they have to believe they have a chance. Me, I dont!

Sri Lanka are the side I picked at the beginning and still believe they are the best contenders alot of bowlers, with Malinga, murali and mendis all firing and an amazing top order, the way they took England to pieces from what looked like a competetive score, they look scary. The weakness; they dont bat deep,get the top out and they could crumble.

Pakistan, well they have it all,a long order, good bowlers, 2 of the top in the tournament. I think however the pressure they feel chasing has led to some horrific collapses. I think they will beat India in the semi but fall at the last against SriLanka.

Finally India, a genial batting attack, but they lack bowlers seriously! They rely too much on Zaheer, with Baji being reduced to a stock bowler to slow down the oppo not really taking any wickets. The rest of them are part timers with no real penetration, yes Yuvraj has taken a few against minnows but against fellow subcontinentals I think he will suffer. Even if they get by Pakistan and score a hatful against SriLanka batting first in the final their bowling will not trouble the likes of Sangakarra and Jawaywardena.

So there you have it SriLanka for me, I have money on it.

Thoughts,

The Bear

Sri Lanka for me as well.

I think that the tournament has shown that all teams have reasons why they won't win.

Windies were just not good enough all round the park.
Australia lacked the fire power of their past and needed to be in full form to win - they weren't.
England were tired and have had enough of cricket and weren't able to last the full 58 weeks of the Cup.
South African discovered spin and had a great balance but showed that the pressure could be too much.

India have top order batsmen. If they don't score 300 they won't have enough runs because the bowlers won't win it. The middle and lower order has showed that they can fall over for next to nothing. It must be the top order to get the runs.

Pakistan have been the surprise in the tournament. Not in their ability, but in the way that they have consistently shown it. The 8 or 9 overs vs New Zealand was a leak that I have expected to be a gush all tournament. That can lose a game for them in the next week.

Sri Lanka have been my sneaky favourite since they beat Australia 6 months ago. They have the ability to put them in the winning position and the composure to win the big games when its tight. They also don't have the power to blast the opposition or survive a blast from the opposition (Malinga excepted)

New Zealand just aren't good enough. I said that they were "shit" to IOB on twitter. That was harsh. But they are the 4th best team left. On their side they have batting depth and plenty of go to players (mainly batsmen) to turn on the power. They also think that they can win any game, and that can mean that sometimes that they can be correct.

I think the winner of the Pak/India game will either win or lose the final. The winner of the Sri/NZ game can put themselves in the best position in the GF and take advantage of the other team faltering. I don't think that they will win the game from ball dot.

I think that I have covered enough possibilities to ensure that I can quote myself predicting the winner at the final!

Sri Lanka look good but presuming they play India in the Final, their Bowling will rely heavily on Malinga and India's Middle order have been much better Sri Lanka's.

Plus you can't rule out Pakistan or New Zealand, they have pulled it out of the bag in previous games and could well do so again.

But my money is on India. (it's not but you get the idea)

I think the Sri Lanka middle order is being under-used, owing to their storming top order!

Hey, that guy was right!