At the point of writing the last 12th Man debate, it seemed likely that the group stages of this World Cup were set fizzle out into a series of fairly meaningless games with the top 4 looking all but secured. However, England's defeat to Sri Lanka and then loss to Australia opened up the race for 4th spot and has ensured that at least mathematically 5 teams are still battling for the final 3 spots in the semi-finals with Australia the only side certain of qualification to the knockout stages.

I say mathematically because the reality of the situation is that both India and New Zealand would have to lose heavily in their final games (2 for India) and Pakistan and Bangladesh win handsomely in their relative fixtures in order for those 2 early pacesetters to miss out at this point. 11 points and a positive net run-rate looks likely to be enough to make it to the semi-finals with the permutations as follows

 

Despite their defeat against England yesterday, India are almost a shoo-in for qualification to the semi-finals. They play Bangladesh tomorrow knowing that a win will guarantee a top 4 spot and keep alive their hopes of finishing 1st in the group stage. They then have a backup game against Sri Lanka on Saturday.

While still looking good to qualify for the semis, New Zealand are limping towards the finish line rather than sprinting. Back to back defeats against Australia and Pakistan alongside a near miss against West Indies have halted their momentum and some will say they were lucky to get a rained off game against India.

The hosts and pre-tournament favourites have decided to do it the hard way by leaving themselves 2 must win games at the back end of the tournament. They got a vital and morale-boosting victory against India yesterday and now need to finish the job against New Zealand on Wednesday.

This has been another typically Pakistan like performance in a knockout competition as they lurch from being brilliant one minute to amateurish the next. They must overcome Bangladesh in their final match and hope that New Zealand can beat England in order to qualify.

With a huge amount of fight and no little talent Bangladesh have kept themselves in the hunt for a semi-final place but they will have to do it the hard way by beating India and Pakistan and even then it's likely they will need other results to go their way in order to sneak a chair at the top table.

Question 1 - Perhaps the most obvious question is which 4 teams will make it through to the semis? And as a sub-question, in what order will they finish?

This, of course, becomes important because it determines who plays who in the semi-finals (1st play 4th, 2nd play 3rd)

Yesterday's match between India and England was one of the most highly anticipated of the World Cup and didn't disappoint as a spectacle with some fantastic performances with bat and ball on both sides. It also raised a lot of talking points, some of which have already been discussed in the 12th man telegram group.

Question 2 - What is your opinion on the big talking points from yesterday's match?

  • The dimensions of the ground 
  • India's team selection 
  • Eoin Morgan's poor form 
  • Bumrah's brilliance
  • India's slow start 
  • Dhoni's lackadaisical finish 

While we've seen a lot of the world's best step up to the plate in this tournament, there have also been a few that have flattered to deceive.

Gayle is averaging just 33 in the World Cup with 2 fifties coming at a S/R of under 100

Question 3 - Who's been the biggest disappointment of the World Cup?

a.) Chris Gayle

b.) Rashid Khan

c.) Quinton De Kock

d.) Other

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As Always positive discussion on the above points and with each other will be upvoted

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