Until recently there were still some doubts about exactly which teams that would make the semifinals of World Cup. However, now we know that it will be Australia, India, England and New Zealand in the World Cup semifinals. Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, South Africa, West Indies and Afghanistan are knocked out.
India and Australia have only lost one match each and are at the top. New Zealand has surprisingly lost their last three matches, while England has won their last two (including the one against India). Australia play South Africa and India play Sri Lanka today; after which we will know which team will faceoff, when and where.
It was an important match – for the Pakistani team. On this match hinged the sliver of a chance that Pakistan could still make it to the semifinal. England's win however dashed those hopes.
The Kiwis started strong in the competition. However they have lost their last three matches and gave in rather tamely to the England team as well. England made 305 but New Zealand folded for just 186; handing the hosts a 119 run victory.
Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, South Africa, West Indies and Afghanistan were already out but Pakistan fans still harboured some hope. Those were dashed.
The West Indies – Afghanistan match on 4th July was just to keep the scorers and statisticians busy. Both teams were out of the competition (the Windies having won only one match and the Afghan team having won none) anyway. However it was a decent match with the West Indians making 311 and the Afghanistan team getting up to 288 before getting all out.
The match was significant because of the young Afghan player Ikram Ali who made a half-century to become the highest scoring 18-year-old in the World Cup. That record was held by Sachin Tendulkar previously.
The master blaster Chris Gayle bid adieu to international cricket with this last match of his.
It was an impossible ask. In order for Pak to knock New Zealand out of the competition, they had to beat Bangladesh by some ridiculous, unachievable margin.
Not really.
With both teams out of the competition, this was again a match important only for academic purposes. That and Schadenfreude for Indian fans.
Pakistan made 315 and Bangladesh were all out for 221; Pakistan winning by 94 runs. It was a thumping win for Pakistan but irrelevant in the end.
Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh is the highest run getter so far in the competition with 606 runs (Rohit Sharma is at no 2 right now with 544 runs) and has also taken 11 wickets. Alas, this also did not change the fortunes of the team.
People recall this match – the final of CWC 2011 when India beat Sri Lanka at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. It was epic! And Indian fans hope for a repeat of this at World Cup 2019 too.
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