There was no drama in store at Sydney as Australia easily ran through the Pakistani batting line up and clinched the VB (Victoria Bitter) series. Like in the first final, the Pak bowlers once again created an opportunity for the batsmen to tame the Aussies by restricting them to a reasonable total. But the Pakistani batting faltered yet again and they conceded an easy victory to the Australians.

Looking back at the series, one can say this hasn't been a one-sided tournament like many previous ones featuring Australia. Pakistan ran the home team close on many occasions and even got the better of the Aussies at the WACA in Perth. West Indies on the other hand, had the home side in trouble on more than one occasion. But some bad luck and lack of depth in both batting and fielding cost them at the end of the day.

Looking at the positives for Australia, the biggest plus was Andrew Symonds' return to form in the first final. When on fire, he can be the most dangerous batsman on the planet. But his lack of form lately was affecting even his bowling and fielding. Now with some runs under his belt, he can once again be a potent all-round force. Michael Clarke was pushed up and down the order throughout the series. Yet he managed to deliver consistently. We can't call him the find of the series as he has been around for some time now. But with every series it seems the rising star of international cricket keeps raising his bar by a few notches.

In the bowling department, Brett Lee who eventually ended up with the Man of the Series award, was undoubtedly the star of the show. Kept out of the team for most of last season and the early part of his one, Lee proved that he is a match-winner by ripping through the top order of the opposition on a consistent basis. Being out of the side for such a long length of time certainly generated that extra spark in him to deliver and impress the selectors. Michael Kasprowicz has been doing a sensational job since his comeback and Lee knows that one bad performance can keep him out of the game for an extended period of time. This tense competition among players is what makes Australia such a great outfit. Take the case of Brad Hogg, who took five wickets in game and yet was dropped.

Along with so many gains, there were a few negatives too for the World Champions. Matthew Hayden, the ever-consistent performer, struggled with just 42 runs from 4 hits and was eventually left out of the side for the finals. Hayden did not have a great Test series either. If anything, this loss of form would be a personal setback for Hayden and not the team as a whole. With Michael Clarke's emergence, Hayden's spot in the team is certainly under some cloud. And going by the treatment meted out to the likes Mark Waugh and Michael Bevan, Hayden might well be out if he doesn't deliver. The same applies to Darren Lehmann who has had a stop-start career. And a few more failures will certainly bring down the curtains on his career.

The second best team in the tournament will look back at the VB series and be disappointed at having not won at least one of the two finals. But then, the results weren't unexpected and Pakistan can take heart from the fact that they atleast competed in most of the games. Amongst the biggest gains for them was Shahid Afridi. The 24 year-old ('officially', that is) finally seemed to be getting the hang of international cricket. Though he did not change his slam-bang approach to batting, sending him down the order meant that he didn't have to face the new ball and her also had the liberty to throw his bat around at everything. But the 'swashbuckler' did use his head at times, paying respect to good deliveries and showing signs of maturity. His bowling too was tight and to add to it, he picked up wickets without conceding a huge amount of runs. Another talented all-rounder Abdul Razzaq, who was recovering from an illness, also played a big role for the Pakistanis. It was his all-round showing at the WACA that was instrumental in Pakistan taming the Aussies. Pakistan certainly need a consistently performing Razzaq to improve their chances of victory. Yousuf Youhana alos played his part with a match-winning century and other useful contributions.
 

But the big disappointment for Pakistan was the failure of the top-order. Salman Butt, Yaseer Hameed, Taufeeq Umar and Mohammed Hafeez all fell cheaply in every game while Inzamam kept getting 50s, but wasn't able to convert any of them into big ones. Azhar Mahmood's comeback was very ordinary to say the least. Overall, Pakistan returned home with mixed feelings. While they might be satisfied at being the second-best team in the tournament, every player in the side will be aware that a better performance by even 10 % could have won them the series, which would have been a huge boost before the much-hyped series against India.
 

West Indies, as usual, had a humpty-dumpty ride. Brian Lara, as he always does, had that one great knock. But it wasn't enough to take his side into the finals. Chanderpaul and Sarwan were consistent, but in this new era of one-day cricket, their strike-rates were highly unacceptable. The left-arm seam bowling of Pedro Collins was the most impressive aspect of the Windies bowling. With Meryn Dillon out of touch, Collins took it upon himself to be spearhead. But with not much support from the other bowlers, teams managed to recover against the West Indies bowling. The dibbly-dobbly stuff of Wavell Hinds and Ramnaresh Sarwan wouldn't trouble the opposition much. Chris Gayle with an injured shoulder couldn't give it his best shot with the ball. Staying with Gayle, his batting was a big letdown for the Windies as was his opening partner Hinds'. The latter got a century against Australia, but that was too slow by modern-day international standards. The West Indies did not have too much competitive cricket after emerging surprise winners of the Champions Trophy, which might have hampered them. But at the end of the day, their consistent inconsistency in all departments led to their downfall.

So Australia tasted the sweet smell of Victory while Pakistan and West Indies were left with a Bitter taste in the mouth.