Australia's David Warner predicts WC 2015 final clash with South Africa or England

David Warner

Bullish about Australia’s chances to qualify for the 2015 World Cup final, the country’s opening batsman David Warner has predicted that they will face either South Africa or England at the MCG on March 29 for the World Championship crown. Warner believes that the conditions in Australia will suit these three teams.

The 28-year-old, speaking to Cricket Australia, said: "I really hope it's either South Africa or England. I think that would be a great tussle. The wickets (in Australia) suit all three countries and it would be a very good battle."

‘Ground dimensions an advantage for Australia’

Warner, who was the fourth leading run-getter (427 runs in 4 matches at 53.37) in the just concluded Australia-India Test series, which the home team won 2-0, believes that his team will have a good advantage over others, as they are used to playing at the World Cup venues, which have bigger boundaries as compared to the other stadiums around the world.

He said: "I definitely think it's the venues (that provide an advantage) because you look at the Gabba, the MCG and probably Sydney as well, the grounds' square (boundaries) are big.

"So we can use our bounce and pace. When you're playing in a country like India, the boundaries are quite small, and as a batter I'm loving it there because you can go through with your shots and your top edges will go to the boundary.”

The left-hander added: "But here if you try to use the square boundaries to your advantage, you're going to get catches in the outfield. I don't think there's going to be easy sixes.

"The conditions, the carry, the bounce, the wickets are going to be very good – our curators in Australia are the best in the world and I think they will produce very good wickets for us."

Warner hasn’t exactly set the ODI arena on fire as much as he has done in the other two formats. His ODI exploits have been below-par, with him only scoring 1539 runs in 50 matches at an average of 31.40. However, it is only a matter of time before he turns up, and Australia would hope he does that during the World Cup.