Semifinal Matchups
ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 Round Robin league has completed. Semifinal line up has been decided. The top four teams South Africa, Australia, Newzealand and host India has made it to the Semifinal. They are just a match away from playing Final.In the first Semifinal Host India will take on Newzealand at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on 15 November 23. India would be eyeing for its fourth Final where as Newzealand would like to lift the coveted World title.
In the second Semifinal 5 times Champion Australia will take on South Africa at Eden Garden, Kolkata on 16 November 23. South Africa will be eyeing to have their first World Cup title where as Australia coming in the form at the right time will be eyeing for record sixth World title.
Teams Reflecting on the Journey
England’s Performance: A Late Surge But Unfulfilled Expectations
Earlier, World Champion England could not repeat their last world cup performance and finished at 7th position. It did started playing in the next half but it was too late . England once at the bottom of the table and looking beyond Champions trophy qualification did manage to win few matches at the last.
Pakistan’s Disappointment: Falling Short of Expectations
Pakistan as world number one in ODI and were front runner to make it in first four, could not able to live up to their own expectation. Loss against Afghanistan was nail in the coffin . As per permutation and combination they were alive till their last match but overall had a poor tournament. It was batsman who could not put up as per their potential. In sub continent Pakistan was without a reputed spinners to take wicket in the middle. However Pakistan should be happy to finish at 5th position.
Afghanistan’s Surprising Run: A Proud 6th Position
Afghanistan surprised every one. They were in the tournament with one win before and were very much in the contention of playing in semifinal. The early loss to Bangladesh and Maxwell’s heroic 201 not out pushed Afghanistan out of semifinal contention. Afghanistan did proud to all cricket lover with their performance and must pat their back to finish at 6th position .
Netherlands: Qualifier Making a Mark
Netherland , the qualifier who qualified pushing two time world champion West Indies to miss their only world cup did played good cricket to prove their ability to play a world class cricket at the highest level. Finished at the bottom of table but defeated South Africa and Bangladesh. They were on par with Bangladesh and Sri Lanka on points table.
Bangladesh and Sri Lanka: Mid-table Performers
Bangladesh and Sri Lanka were good as team to register 2 match win but were not much threat to other team. As per table Sri Lanka will miss champions Trophy as they will finish at 9th position.
Overview: Australia eyeing for record trophy
Overall a good and competitive round robin league where total of 45 matches were played and every team had equal opportunity to play each team . India the host nation were undefeated in their nine matches and with100% victory finished on top with 18 points. South Africa with 7 win where they were surprised by Netherland but finished at 2nd position with better runrate. Australia picked up their form and with 14 points finished at 3rd position. Newzealand after four consecutive loss defeated Sri Lanka in the last league to finish at 4th position.
Looking forward to next week to see if Australia clinches their 6th record World Cup trophy or will be host nation who repeats their 2011 world cup triumph or it will be a New Champion as South Africa or Newzealand.
