In-form Aussies chase fifth World Cup

SYDNEY: Australia are peaking at the right time for a crack at their fifth World Cup triumph and will go into next month’s tournament at home on top of the rankings.
Under the attacking coaching of Darren Lehmann, the Australians have registered some impressive results and have only lost one of their last 11 ODIs.
Australia accounted for the third-ranked South Africans 4-1 in a series at home last November and have begun their current tri-series with wins over England and India.
Lehmann and fellow selectors have assembled a strong playing group around a core of key players — David Warner, Steve Smith, Mitchell Johnson and possibly skipper Michael Clarke, fitness issues depending.
Clarke has been troubled by hamstring and back problems throughout the southern summer and selectors have imposed a deadline of February 21 on the star batsman to add some certainty to their team deliberations.
The Australians didn’t cope in 1992 when they last hosted the sport’s showpiece and they missed out on the semi-finals.
“How they deal with that pressure is going to be as important because they’ve got the players and the skill sets to be able to win this World Cup, it’s just how they manage the pressure around being the home team,” Indian batting great Rahul Dravid argued.
The home team have traditional rivals England first up on February 14 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the venue for the March 29 final.