The league round of the ICC ODI Cricket World Cup has reached its final stage. While India and South Africa have already qualified for the semi-final round, now Australia has also entered as the 3rd team. With 14 points, India will finish the league at the top spot. Africa and Australia have 12 points each with one league game remaining.
According to the fixture list the top team in the league round will face the 4th placed team in the semi-final round. In the other semi-final, the 2nd and 3rd placed teams in the league round will play a multi-match. In this way, South Africa – Australia teams are sure to clash in the 2nd semi-final. Because the last team entering the semi-final round cannot come close to the points of these two teams.
As the teams to face each other in the 2nd semi-final are known, the expectation is high as to which team will play India in the first semi-final. 3 teams namely New Zealand, Pakistan and Afghanistan are fighting to qualify as the last team in the semi-final round. Only one team from this will meet India in the semi-final round.
New Zealand, Pakistan and Afghanistan have got 8 points each but they differ in terms of net run rate. Among them, New Zealand, who have the highest run rate (0.398), face struggling Sri Lanka in their last league match today. New Zealand, who finished 2nd in last year’s World Cup, need to win today’s match and raise their net run rate significantly. Meanwhile Pakistan and Afghanistan teams have to face defeat in their last league matches. If this happens, New Zealand will have no problem making it to the semi-finals.
India – Pakistan? There is also a possibility that the India-Pakistan semi-final will be played at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. For this to happen, Pakistan, who have a net run rate of 0.036, will need to beat England in their last league match. This match will be held on 11th. What’s positive for Pakistan is that if they win, New Zealand will play their last match after Afghanistan have completed their last league matches.
The Pakistan team will be able to know how much net run rate they need. -0.038 Afghanistan team will face South Africa tomorrow (10th) in their last league match. If the Afghanistan team wants to advance to the semi-finals, they need to beat South Africa and get a higher net run rate than New Zealand and Pakistan.
New Zealand, Afghanistan and Pakistan have all lost their last league matches but net run rate will decide the last team to enter the semi-finals.
