Friday March 13 marks the beginning of the last
group stage fixtures of Cricket World Cup 2015 in Australia and New Zealand.
The games in pool A have very little or no
intrigue left, because the group already has clear qualifiers: New Zealand, Sri
Lanka, Australia and Bangladesh.
The only game of any interest will be played
today between New Zealand and Bangladesh, which will settle the final group A
standings. First of all this match will see if New Zealand would become the
only team in Group A to win all matches or not. Secondly the Australia Scotland
match on Saturday 14 March will decide if Australia would go into the
quarterfinals above Sri Lanka in the rankings or below.
But things are totally different in Group B. In
this group Pakistan, Ireland and West Indies all have a game left and any one
of these three will have to pack their bags after this cricketing weekend.
On Sunday first West Indies takes on United Arab
Emirates. Three hours later Pakistan takes on Ireland. In the first match UAE
team has very little to gain or lose, whereas for West Indies it is a matter of
a quarterfinal berth or a flight home. Most definitely West Indies will come
out all concentrated and prepared and in the past we have seen that the given
side is capable of snatching victories, when needed. One should not forget the
types of Chris Gayle, who can hit 200 if needed.
On the other hand since UAE team has nothing to
lose, they might perform better than they did earlier in the tournament,
because lack of pressure sometimes rejuvenate players. But we have to wait for
two more days before we can see if UAE could post their first CWC 2015 win or
not.
The second match is all so complicated, where
Pakistan takes on Ireland. The Irish team is notorious as a spoiler. There have
been past occasions when they posted real upsetting performances.
In this match both teams will have a lot of
pressure, because in case of WI overpowering UAE, which is a strong
possibility, Pakistan and Ireland cannot afford to lose. The losing team in
case of WI victory will pack their bags.
Although it might sound so black & white, it
is not. Let's suppose WI wins with a handsome margin and betters its scoring
verge significantly. In this case the team, which wins Pakistan-Ireland tie
will go,tooth entire place in the pool, which is currently held by Pakistan and
the losing team will wrestle with luck to make it into the top four. If
Pakistan and WI both win their matched then WI qualifies, because Ireland has a
very low net run-rate.
If Ireland wins against Pakistan and WI fails to
substantially improve their NRR, Pakistan still has a chance. Now I can keep on
listing possible outcomes in one or the other case, but I believe that the
teams, who would perform better on Sunday should proceed.
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If Pakistan team would come out in the park with
the same vigor, which they displayed in their last match against South Africa,
they have a better chance. On the other hand if we look at the level of match
pressure, Pakistan will definitely have more pressure to win, because although
Ireland is a fine team, but if they don't qualify for the quarterfinals, it
will not be a setback for them. But if Pakistan is forced to pack bags it will
be lot more difficult for the sportsmen and the Pakistani cricket fans.
Sunday is still two days in the future, let's
enjoy Friday's matches for now and let's see if Bangladesh would be able to
deliver a cricketing blow to New Zealand, just like they knocked-out England.
Of course the best team will win, but I do hope that Bangladesh team will get a
moral boost today. Hang tight. game on!
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