Rex Clementine
in Sydney
It’s been a World Cup full of surprises. Two times champions West Indies failed to show up having lost to Scotland and Ireland. Zimbabwe humbled Pakistan, the Dutch sent South Africa home, and the English will be wondering which Irish player to rope in having lost to them at MCG. After the Super 12 stage, the 16 nation tournament has reached the semi-finals with India and Pakistan progressing from one group while New Zealand and England qualified from the group that Sri Lanka were in.
Accordingly, England will meet India at Adelaide Oval while Pakistan take on New Zealand in Sydney. Defending champions and hosts Australia had a shocking exit after a below par campaign while South Africa despite having a formidable unit got choked out of the semis in the 11th hour after starting off their campaign in fine style.
There are no favourites in the World Cup now that Australia and South Africa have packed their bags. India lost to South Africa, Pakistan were beaten by India, New Zealand went down to England while England themselves scraped through.
Pakistan have got an attack that has all bases covered. They have left-arm seam, right-arm seam, leg-spin, off-spin and left-arm spin. No other team can boast of such a versatile attack with quality. Pakistan’s top order is strong with Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam opening the innings. Although Babar hasn’t made big runs, he has looked to be getting back into form. It’s their middle order that’s a worry. They have left their lower order to bail them out on too many occasions. However, Sydney wicket has helped spin and they will enjoy the conditions.
The Kiwis have plenty of batting depth and Glenn Philips has been brilliant for them having come up with a couple of match winning knocks. Skipper Kane Williamson is the mainstay of their batting while Devon Conway contributed big time to knock the Aussies out of the tournament. Pace is New Zealand’s key with Trent Boult and Tim Southee doing much damage with the new ball. Lockie Ferguson comes in as first change and his pace is unsettling for too many teams.
England had a scare mid-way through the tournament but have managed to hang in there. Jos Buttler and Alex Hales are terrific during the Power Play while Ben Stokes can win them a match in any of the three disciplines. Mark Wood has been their biggest sensation having sent down a 154.7 kmph thunderbolt, the fastest ball of the tournament. Sam Curran is their highest wicket taker with ten scalps so far. Leggie Adil Rashid doesn’t send down too many loose balls while Moeen Ali is usually economical.
India have lot of questions unanswered. They will miss Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja and they were lucky to have ended up in the easier group. Virat Kohli’s superb form is their biggest plus point. Suryakumar Yadav has played some blinders. India’s bowling is vulnerable though and is the weakest of the four teams. That could come back to hurt them.