New Zealand showed class

Today’s match between Bangladesh and New Zealand had little intrigue in it. But it was a test of both the teams. We just wanted to see if Bangladesh could pull another stunt like it did against England and on the other hand was New Zealand capable of going undefeated into the quarterfinals.

The Bangladeshi team failed the test, although they nearly repeated their batting performance as in the match against England (against England 275/7; against New Zealand 288/7). But their bowlers could not do what they did in the previous match.

Or probably it was the New Zealand batting, which was superior to that of England? Of course they were better. England lost all wickets in 48 overs for just 260. New Zealand bypassed the required 288 for the loss of 7 wickets and in 48 overs also. Guptill and Taylor made the biggest contributions, with a century and a half century respectively.

So New Zealand reaches the quarterfinals as the top team from Group A.  After watching New Zealand play so confidently since the beginning of the tournament, all minds are set at accepting New Zealand as the most probable World Cup winner in 2015.

If Pakistan ends up qualifying for the quarters and qualifies at number four in the Group, the #Green_Shirts ( #GreenShirts ) will take on New Zealand in the quarters. Now here is the tricky thing. Pool matches are important, but they are not so high pressure as the knockout stage matches. No doubt New Zealand is in a great form, but today was the last low pressure match. Continuous victories sometimes play tricks with psychology. A team can lose concentration at the most critical time and once in the knockout stage, there will be no time to regroup.

It is not sure that Pakistan will qualify for the quarters, because the decisive Group B matches are on Sunday only and it is also not sure that even after qualification Pakistan would play New Zealand. But New Zealand will be playing the team at the bottom of Group B and that can be tricky psychologically.

And please do not forget the other factor. That factor is not decided in the playground. I am sure a lot of people are sure by now that New Zealand will win the World Cup ( #CWC2015) and their confidence, translated into the dollars, can lead NZ to defeat. But that is just a hunch.

So still all eyes on Sunday’s matches. I am not going to conceal that although I admire Ireland’s great effort, I still want Pakistan to win and qualify at number 3 in the group. I am not betting on it and neither should you, if you want Pakistan to win.