At last, after a month of criticism, justified and otherwise, the organisers of the World Cup have had their prayers answered with the prospect of a final to savour.

A format that to some has been the best yet but to others has been unfathomable at times and anomalous has managed to bring together two stupendous teams at Lord's tomorrow, and already the saliva is running.

Yin and yang, chalk and cheese, cavalier and roundhead. Once Wasim Akram's brilliant but mercurial team had swept the Kiwis aside, this was bound to be a final of contrasts. On the one hand Pakistan, whose mood swings might resemble a graph of the Alpine stages of the Tour de France; on the other Steve Waugh and an Australian team, fashioned in his own mean-eyed image, who simply will not give in no matter what the odds. The Pakistanis have been heading for Lord's for some while now, for all their capacity for stepping off the gas. The signs were already there in Sharjah last April. Maybe it is Wasim himself who is the barometer. For some years this giant of a cricketer has fought a shoulder injury and his performance has suffered. He is, though, a man who draws a force from somewhere as no other can, and in that mood he is irresistible. With Wasim comes the spark that ignites and unites this disparate group of individuals, from the young Shoaib Akhtar, who wears charisma like a comfortable jacket, to the elegant, punishing Saeed Anwar, the warrior Moin Khan and Mr Potato, Inzamam, the brilliant fall guy.

Wasim gives youth its head, embracing such players as Abdul Razzaq and Azhar Mahmood into his team. They all respond because they know that, just as the 1992 success meant the earth to Imran Khan, so does this to Wasim. He wants to go out at the top and there could be no greater stage for a farewell than the Lord's balcony with the trophy in his hands.

The Australians might have something to say about this, of course. Many emotions emanate from them but sentimentality is not one of them. To reach the final they were required to draw on reserves of willpower that were extraordinary. They know that they survived on their wits, and the errors of others: not just that of Lance Klusener as the titanic struggle at Edgbaston reached its incredible crescendo but before that at Headingley when young Herschelle Gibbs got cocky for a moment and tried to throw up a catch he had not properly secured. It allowed Waugh to play the innings that kept his side in the competition.

Given what has preceded, it is hard to see how Australia can be beaten now. The only other side to approach their fortitude in adversity has just been found wanting. But to remain in the competition and then get to the final, Australia have played two matches of the utmost intensity. They must be drained, mentally and physically.

Pakistan by contrast have eased themselves to the final. Maybe it was too easy. But within that trouncing of the Kiwis there were significant performances, first by Shoaib who, blamed in public by his captain for the defeat against South Africa in the Super Six, responded with some of the most compelling fast bowling ever seen, and then by Anwar, who has now hit back-to-back centuries.

Wasim himself will surely lift his performance one notch and his youngsters are not fazed. Only their impetuosity, a propensity for gifting runs in the form of extras, Inzamam's incompetence between the wickets and some weak links in the field can detract from their excellence.

Australia will seize on weaknesses, though. Specifically, they know that Shoaib is lightning fast but can go for runs, especially with the shorter Lord's boundaries, and that, on a pitch which will not help spinners, Saqlain Mushtaq's off-spin is there to be had. Nor is there a better bowler in the world to left-handers than Glenn McGrath: his battle against Anwar will be a key contest.

A wonderful occasion is in prospect. Rain is forecast first thing tomorrow but is hoped to clear by midday. Miraculously the tournament has got thus far without the services of Messrs Duckworth and Lewis; but this is the important one.