Road to the Quarters

Well, well, well! The league stage - a set of remarkably exciting matches - has finally concluded today. And we have 8 teams - the same 8 that were expected to make it to the next round before the start of the tournament - marching ahead. The way these 8 qualified, however, was not easy and as expected. There were upsets, many of them. Group 'A' remained the good boy as it did not see any major upsets. However, New Zealand beating Pakistan, Pakistan beating both Australia and Sri Lanka were results clearly against the initial odds. Group 'B' saw everything happen over the last few days. It featured a fascinating tie between India and England. It saw England losing to Ireland and Bangladesh, but pulling off a remarkable 6-run win over South Africa. It saw South Africa beating India with 3 balls to spare. The rest of them were fine games of cricket too and we have seen a lot of action already in the tournament. Now, let us march ahead with the 8 best teams of the world cup to the quarter-finals.

Here's a list of the four matches that will see 4 teams exiting the grand event.

1) Pakistan Vs. West Indies in Mirpur

2) Australia Vs. India in Ahmedabad

3) New Zealand Vs. South Africa in Mirpur

4) Sri Lanka Vs. England in Colombo

We will analyze each of these matches as they unfold. Although, I believe, in this cup any of these teams can beat the other on their day but it is comparatively easy to pick favourites for the three matches apart from the second one.

Pakistan will certainly have an edge over the West Indies considering their recent form. Plus, Pakistan can also expect some support from the crowd in Mirpur.

I guess, India playing Australia is going to be the greatest of all these 4 clashes as it is almost impossible to pick a winner right now. This is the clash. Personally, nothing would please the cricket fan in me more than India knocking Australia out of the world cup. It would be a dream come true. Analytically, if both the teams play their best cricket, I think India will have an edge. However, knocking Australia out of the tournament is a task not many teams in the history have achieved. They are a different team in crunch games and India will have to handle the pressure very well to win this one. The pitch will play a vital role too.

New Zealand will have to play out of their skins if they want to win this one. I believe, South Africa will have a strong edge here. These are the only 2 teams out of the 8 that have never played a world cup final and both would be desperate to change that. South Africa, as of now, look well on their way to the semis at least.

I'd be mighty surprised if England win this one. And the major reason for this belief is not the team they are playing against but the venue of the match. Beating Sri Lanka in Colombo on a pitch that is likely to spin like a tossed coin is going to be a paramount task for England. They'd have to be particularly carefully while batting. The best they can hope for is to win the toss and elect to bat. The toss has mostly been the match-winner at Premadasa but even if England win it, they will have a long and tough road ahead.

So here are the four probable semi-finalists in my view - Pakistan, India (the toughest call), South Africa, Sri Lanka.