KEY POINTS:
Australia's favouritism to win the World Cup grows by the day. New Zealand were the one side who might have fancied their chances against the world champions, but not after their latest performance against Sri Lanka.
It was very disappointing and any psychological edge the Black Caps may have worked up over the summer series has ebbed away.
The one thing in their favour going into the final stages is that the top-order batters have hit hundreds over the past six weeks.
They are now in a position where they should seriously consider manipulating the situation in any way possible to avoid meeting Australia in the semifinals.
The name of the game should be to have a crack at Australia in the final, where anything can happen on the day.
It should be no surprise that Scott Styris is the form Black Caps batter. He has scored well in the West Indies before and his game of limited foot movement and a reliance on his hands is made for the slower conditions, the way Nathan Astle succeeded in his prime.
Forget the top order though, because New Zealand continue to base their strategy on those who follow being able to blast them to victory. Jacob Oram, Brendon McCullum, James Franklin and Daniel Vettori apparently hold the key.
It is a mistake. But it is the reason the potentially influential spin bowling of Jeetan Patel continues to be ignored.
Franklin is holding his place, despite an average tournament, not only because he offers a left-armer's variety, but because he is also capable of swinging the bat to good effect.
I've got no problem with leaving Chris Martin in the wings as a last-ditch back stop in case of injury. He just hasn't had enough cricket at this level to be risked in the big games and he is a batting dead zone. Patel, though, should be in the picture.
It's still a race between Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Sri Lanka. But Australia's big win over South Africa has only emphasised that a gap has reappeared between Ricky Ponting's side and the rest.
The Aussies have continued to march on, while the others seem to have fallen away. Australia have won 18 consecutive World Cup matches over three campaigns - quite some record. If our guys have half a brain, they'll do whatever they can to avoid meeting them until the final.
