The world's No. 1 golfer is black. The world's No.1 rapper is white. Two African teams have made it into the Super Six of the cricket World Cup but South Africa is not one of them. The fastest century in Cup history came from a man who does not have a first-class hundred to his name. India are being quoted as 3-1 favourites, second behind Australia, to win the trophy. Without a doubt, the world-and the cricket World Cup-has gone completely cuckoo.

CLEAR AS DAYLIGHT: Australia have looked the best

The most popular road sign in South Africa, a country of smooth tarmac, manic drivers and gun licences, beseeches people to "arrive alive". It is sound advice to cricket teams too; political boycotts, rain and mathematical calculations have made the difference between victory and defeat, promotion and relegation, so much so that emerging from the first-round scrum has meant a far simpler ticket to the semi-finals than could have been imagined.

The numbers game of "carry forward" points and day-night games where losing the toss becomes a death sentence may do more diabolical damage yet. Commentators will again be sent into a huff about how the competition has been "devalued" with the exit of the West Indies, England, South Africa and Pakistan. In the World Cup though, the Aussies rule-no matter what the state of the game or what the calculators decide. Every other team left may say it is taking it "one match at a time" but it cannot avoid contemplating the loudest question floating around-can the Australians be stopped?

It has become South Africa's new mission. Find-and back-anyone who can take on the dastardly Australians. The night South Africa went out of the competition, former Test opener Andrew Hudson made a declaration that the time had come to support India, "because they look like the only team that could beat Australia". The last time Australia and India met-as cannot be forgotten-the match was over with an afternoon to spare. It is that desperate.

Australia's coach John Buchanan tried to hold off the hysteria when he told india today, "I don't think everything has come together yet for us. We haven't got the partnerships in batting we wanted or when we had the chance-and other than the India game, our bowling hasn't worked as well as we would have liked. We've put down some catches..." God alive, listen to him. If this is the world's best cricket team, then mustn't the others be utterly lousy?

THE RESISTANCE: A lacklustre Sri Lanka don't pose much of a threat to Aussie dominance; Fleming and his men have been impressive in snatches

Former Somerset captain and guru amongst cricket writers Peter Roebuck recommends another method the Indian batsmen would love. "Attack," he says. "Win the first 10 overs of both innings. England had the right idea, going after Glenn McGrath but couldn't finish the job. You cannot beat Australia from behind. You must attack a team at its strong point because it can sometimes be its weakness."

Of the three frontline teams in the competition, the experts reckon India and New Zealand could push the Aussies, though the last team to actually beat Ricky Ponting's men was Sri Lanka, six months ago in the Champions Trophy-with a combination of a slow turner at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo and a chutney mix of bowling from their own slow turners. It's the old cliche of antipodal professionalism versus oriental flair, the swashbucklers from Asia versus the demolition men from Down Under. Except there's a minor difference. Of the three Asian teams, the large and the little one have kept faith in their natural gifts but tried to set them in the concrete of a professional foundation. The Indians worked out that 70 per cent of the England middle order's runs came on the leg-side; so they bowled a consistent line outside the off stump, at what they called a "fourth stump".

The seamers landed it on just the right length; six out of seven batsmen from No. 3 downwards to No. 9 ended up being caught behind the wicket. It was not just a case of Ashish Nehra's arm being hit by lightning on that day. When he took the field to defend a total against the South Africans, Sanath Jayasuriya had a Duckworth-Lewis table in his pocket while the South African camp was caught in confusion.

Pakistan, forever dangerous floaters, are paying the price for standing down as world cricket marched ahead. Buchanan says the two fractious neighbours didn't even play the same kind of cricket anymore, "Pakistan depend on their quick bowlers and hopes one or two batters will come through; India rely on their all-round ability."

New Zealand is the only team to enjoy a degree of consistent success against Australia-but that was more than 12 months ago when they won three out of four one-day internationals. What they have on their side is a smart captain in Stephen Fleming who can spot the opposition's tactical patterns like a mother spots a white lie. His magic century in the World Cup was founded on a planned assault of the South Africans by anticipating their game plan and second-guessing their bowling changes.

Former South African batsman Daryll Cullinan believes it is going to be much more even at the death. "Of course, Australia are going to ask questions of themselves. It must be their worst nightmare to have their one bad day in the semi-final or the final." South African's former pace bowler Fanie DeVilliers is convinced that all it will take to rattle the world champions will be a good batting track and a big classy century. "It takes only one guy to do it." This has been a tournament for pedigreed batsmen, the men who Cullinan says are definite in their feet movement and who use the crease. The crease-bound dashers and slashers have less of a chance but things might swing the other way.

As a long, dry summer and a long, endless tournament wear on, the wickets are beginning to flatten out, fast bowlers' knees are beginning to hurt and the eyes of batsmen and spinners are beginning to light up. The hunger and resolve of the teams left in the competition, their minds and their bodies, are still to be tested fully.

Last year, the science magazine Nature reported a strange phenomenon taking place under the South African land mass-one magnetic patch had begun to point in a direction opposite to the rest of the earth's magnetic field, an indication that the earth's poles are starting to flip as they do every few million years. Up above on green and firm ground, cricket's grand, galactic gathering could witness its oddest somersault still.

SACHIN TENDULKAR
He's Back

He's back. Being many things to many people-the centre of India's cricketing universe, the holder of the key, the upholder of all sorts of values superglued onto his squat personage, the master of the game and, of course, the big cookie, the one that stokes his interest-the informal, undisputed title of the best batsman in the world.

At the World Cup in South Africa, there are no arguments about that, anymore. Two innings in two big games settled it. The tournament began with Brian Lara throwing down the challenge to the great swordsmen of the game with a century in the opening match. A month later, Lara was the mere memory of a backlift and Sachin Tendulkar stood alone. Three man-of-the-match awards, close to 500 runs and India in the Super Six without calling on rain, freak results, the gods.

The Indian batting charge in the World Cup has been led by Tendulkar, restored to the top of the order. The world now applauds as though a new Tendulkar has been sighted, carving up bowling like a butcher does animal parts into easily digestible steak-sized pieces for the rest of the batsmen to swallow.

Look carefully. It is the old Tendulkar returned after a quiet time lower down in the order where, as he said himself, he had a "greater responsibility". Facing new-ball attacks in the World Cup with an asking rate of six an over would also usually qualify as a pretty reasonable description of "responsibility"; but batsmen born to perpetuate ruin probably prefer their responsibility on roller-skates.

"If the opening partnership had been going well, then things wouldn't have changed," admits coach John Wright, "but it hadn't. There was no point in continuing with it in a big tournament like the World Cup and asking Sachin to come in at 20-2 where he can't play his dominant game." Given a chance to regain his favourite batting spot in the one-day game, Tendulkar cashed in.

There is a difference though: in the bad old days, the departure of Tendulkar meant the beginning of the deluge. Today there are batsmen who come in and finish games for India. When Tendulkar goes now, whether in the 15th over against England or with 100 left to get against Pakistan, there are players who will not let his effort be nothing more than a glorious chapter in an otherwise sorry story. For a man who "loathes failure more than anyone" in the words of former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar, to be part of a dressing room where failure passed from man to man like a sneeze, must have been purgatory.

Tendulkar is playing with the freedom of a man given a second chance at glory, one more shot-not at record books but at the heavier tomes of history instead. A great athlete is usually defined by what he does in the big moments-Diego Maradona and the 1986 World Cup, Ronaldo and 2002, Pete Sampras and Wimbledon, Tiger Woods and the majors. Tendulkar has clearly set out his stall in this Cup and hopes his teammates will follow. South African batsman Daryll Cullinan says this will be the World Cup that will be remembered as Tendulkar's World Cup." A fortnight from now, we will all know.

GUEST COLUMN: BOB WOOLMER Open Season Both India and New Zealand can yet upset Australia's apple-cart

India now have an all-round side and the spin twins allied to the three-prong seam attack will be a match for any team. What's that saying, "Don't shoot the messenger"? The exit of the South Africans is the single biggest surprise and disappointment of this tournament. To be fair they were unable on the day to beat any of the major sides. Amazingly in three out of four World Cups, South Africa have been affected by rain, by the system, and by one run. The saying "Remember, one run can make a difference" was part and parcel of the team's one-day disciplines a few years ago. How that came home to haunt South Africa in 1999 and 2003. Rain in 1992 and 22 off one ball; 1996, Brian Lara; 1999, tied match and 1 run; 2003, tied match, 1 run and rain. The real mistake was that the tactics should have always been to be ahead of the Duckworth-Lewis run rate. It is a lesson well learnt not only by South Africa but hopefully by the other teams as they move into the Super Sixes. Looking at the draw, India and Australia have to be the favourites. Interestingly, New Zealand have been able to beat both teams recently. India have made great strides and Australia looked vulnerable for once at Port Elizabeth. India meet Kenya in Cape Town, Sri Lanka at the Wanderers and New Zealand at Centurion in the Super Sixes. If the games go to form, then the four semi-finalists will be (1) Australia, (2) India, (3) New Zealand and (4) Sri Lanka. So India will have to beat New Zealand in the semi-final in order to get through to meet Australia in the final. This leads me back to my initial point that both New Zealand and India can beat Australia. Of course, one must not forget that Sri Lanka also had a recent good win against Australia. What price Australia being beaten in the semi-final? How can India beat Australia and New Zealand? The batting will be the key in both games and one cannot expect India to rely on Sachin Tendulkar to do the business. Players such as Yuvraj Singh, Mohammed Kaif and Sourav Ganguly will also have to come to the party. India now have an all-round side and the spin twins allied to the three-prong seam attack-all in form-will be a match for any team. I believe one needs to chase to beat Australia. Setting a target is never easy on good surfaces. India's game against Sri Lanka at the Wanderers too will be an entertaining affair on a beautiful batting surface. Batting second will be important there. I would like to see a couple of new innovations as well. Firstly, a new ball at 25 overs, with one mandatory catcher inside the 15 m circle. This would prevent having to change the ball later in the innings. It would also bring in new tactics and batting and bowling innovations. The second, and this would be quite revolutionary, is to take a leaf from baseball and allow a double play at run-outs. Both batters could be run-out if they are stranded in the middle of the pitch. Mike Proctor-whose idea this is-is correct in saying that this would change the course of a game and give a side a method of getting back into the game at, say, 220-2 in the 38th over. Last but not least, I would like to see sides that do not bowl their overs in time having the score off the overs after the due time doubled. If 10 comes off those overs, the opposition gets 20. In addition all no-balls and wides should count as two runs plus whatever is scored off the no-balls, and following a no-ball there should be a free hit off the next ball. It is a system that has been used in domestic cricket in the UK to exciting effect. Former South African coach Bob Woolmer is one of the foremost tacticians in modern cricket.