West Indies---Reduced To 'Minnows'! And Tomorrow's Big One!

The once mighty West Indies is on the verge of being reduced to a status of minnows. From being less unpredictable they beat even the most unpredictable by playing one of their worst games in WC history. What a way to start the much awaited Quarter Finals!

West Indies can blame only themselves. Their negative mindset was palpable in the match against India. They decided to rest few of their best players signifying their 'will to lose'. It has been widely discussed that they wanted to meet Pak and not the Aussies in the QF. Well, there must be some truth in all this. If you become choosy and want to experiment about losing you just lose the competitive spirit and so cannot perform to win from there. You cannot expect a player like Gayle to just come and deliver, he lost such a huge opportunity of having some invaluable practice against India.

Pakistan has been becoming less unpredictable meaning more consistent of late and this is a healthy sign. They are already in the semis and need to win just two more matches to achieve their second title since the 1992 victory. Incidentally in that 1992 WC  WI beat Pak by this same margin of 10 wickets inspired by young Brian Lara.

And, now for the big one tomorrow! India meet Australia in the second QF at Ahmedabad. Problem is India has been very predictable of late in engineering huge batting collapses and not able to bat through the full fifty overs. Like their neighbor Pakistan India too need to be a little unpredictable. They need to perform fully to their potential if they want to reach the semis. There is always an inherent spirit of competition between Ind and Pak, what one does or achieves, the other naturally tries to overdo or achieve the same. Right! Pak beat Australia, so India must do the same or even better! They should also learn from Pak bowlers to add more sting to their bowling effort.

Tomorrow must come and come sooner for this big one!

Finally Pakistan Stops Australia! Bangladesh Let England In!

It had to be Pakistan! Pakistan was trounced by New Zealand who in turn was beaten squarely by Australia. And now Pakistan ends Australia's run of unbeaten World Cup matches since 1999. They have topped Group A followed by Sri Lanka, Australia and NZ. But hardly anything can be said about what they are going to do in the first QF. You saw how Afridi got out today with the team needing him urgently at that moment and balls remaining were nearly three times more than the runs needed! Pakistan need to be a little more predictable or a little consistent if they want their second title.

Bangladesh who caused a major upset defeating England crashed out today doing immense favors to none other then England only! Though they are still with the same points as West Indies, their net runrate is so bad that it is not even mathematically possible to make it if West Indies is defeated tomorrow.

India is likely to meet Australia in QF if they defeat WI tomorrow and take the second spot in Group B. If they lose less heavily they are most likely to take the third spot due to better NRR than England and will face Sri Lanka in QF. Hardly any choice. The mantra must be only 'win' from here onwards. If they still have their sights on the World Cup they cannot afford to lose any more match.

All major eight teams are in the knockout stage. If there was a super league here it would have been a mouth watering proposition. But alas! Only seven matches from QF onwards will decide the final winner. But these seven matches are going to be big big ones with every team capable of winning on its day. If WI is defeated tomorrow Pakistan will meet WI in QF and that will be a match of glorious unpredictability! You can expect everything--the best or the worst.And of course, watch out for England who were beaten by minnows Ireland and Bangladesh, but tied India with an impossible target and beat the hot favorites South Africa!

Start howling for your favorite teams and enjoy!

England Stays In QF Contention! Is India In or Out?

You must thank England for making every match it played very close and exciting. It will be a tragedy if they bow out of the world cup. They were in dire straits when their match against West Indies threatened to go out of their reach at several points. Finally England prevailed and got WI all out for 225, 18 short of the England total. So, for the moment they stay in contention for a birth in quarter finals (QF).

There are many possibilities as who out of England, WI and Bangladesh makes it to QF. First let’s take a look at the Group B points table:

Group B - Standings

Rank	Teams	P	W	L	NR	T	Points	NRR
1	South Africa	5	4	1	0	0	8	+1.606
2	India	5	3	1	0	1	7	+0.768
3	England	6	3	2	0	1	7	+0.072
4	West Indies	5	3	2	0	0	6	+1.650
5	Bangladesh	5	3	2	0	0	6	-0.765
6	Ireland	5	1	4	0	0	2	-0.881
7	Netherland	5	0	5	0	0	0	-2.386

If Bangladesh manages to beat SA they will be through with clear 8 points and England will sail through only if India beat WI. If WI win England will be out as they have a poor net runrate. If Bangladesh loses which is the more likely eventuality England will qualify irrespective of Ind-WI result.

Some controversy is created by different reports saying India is not yet confirmed for QF birth. Well, due to Group B complications there evolved a mathematical possibility of India crashing out. If Bangladesh win against SA and WI beat India very heavily then only India may go out, but it is very unlikely. Even if the first case materializes the second one will be very hard to achieve, because Indian batsmen have scored big totals in every match though always falling short by 30-50 runs, and so it will be almost impossible for WI to win by big margins.

India is virtually in the knockout stage as announced here earlier or else where. But the problem is it needs just one match to get knocked out. The crux remains that India must regroup quickly and give inspired performance to still be favorites.