Cricket / icc world cup 2019

The semifinals of the world cup are upcoming, and the teams are preparing themselves for a showdown with one another. Below are the cricket world cup teams in the semifinals ranked number one to four. Number 1: India (Matches: 9, Wins: 7, Loss: 1, No Record: 1) Besides their loss to England and their near defeat to Afghanistan, India are in great shape entering the semifinals. With their recent win over Sri Lanka, India has moved to the top spot on the points table, overtaking Australia. Because of the sudden change in rankings, thousands of Indian fans have availed of the tickets. They are also against easier competition, going up against New Zealand. They lost key players to injuries including Vijay Shankar who suffered a broken toe and Shikhar Dhawan who suffered a fractured thumb. Virat Kohli is their go-to player in the tournament. He has scored five fifties and kept the middle batting-order in check. Rohit Sharma has been hitting the ball with intensity; he has also scored a record-breaking five centuries in their match against Sri Lanka. KL Rahul has also helped in the scoring, Dhoni hasn’t been as productive in the ICC World Cup as others would have wanted. Number 2: Australia (M: 9, W: 7, L: 2) The first team to qualify for the semifinals, Australia has only suffered two defeats: one to India, and one (unexpectedly) to South Africa. Because of the loss to South Africa, they were kicked out of the top spot. Usman Khawaja is out of the ICC World Cup after pulling his left hamstring in their match versus South Africa. Because of this, Matthew Wade was called from Australia A squad to replace him. Mitch Marsh was also called in to substitute for Marcus Stoinis who suffered a side strain. Starc also had knee problems. As for Shaun Marsh, his world cup run is over after suffering an arm fracture during practice. Their go-to player right now is David Warner who is also back to his natural self. Carey and Finch have also scored as well. Starc is also in great shape, scoring wicket after wicket. Number 3: England (M: 9, W: 6, L: 3, NR: 0) After stumbling in the early stages of the tournament, the England National Cricket Team came back strong and won their must-win matches against Australia and New Zealand. A semi‑final against Australia at their favourite stadium – Edgbaston – is much more preferable. Injury-wise, they can only hope that no further injuries come to the players and that those who did suffer injuries are on their top game. Roy’s torn hamstring seems to be holding together after he missed three games, Mark Wood’s ankle and Adil Rashid’s shoulder also seem to be causing no trouble. Their go-to man is their captain, Eoin Morgan. He is the man who keeps the players in check as well as keeps the tempers from flaring out of control. Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Plunkett and Chris Woakes’ bowling are always a danger to batsmen, while Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler are hitting the ball with strength and accuracy. Number 4: New Zealand (M: 9, W: 5, L: 3, NR: 1) Having qualified for the semifinals with the lowest number of wins along with three consecutive defeats, and only their net run rate to save them from being overtaken by Pakistan, the Kiwis have ended the round-robin stage bruised. Lockie Ferguson missed their game against England due to a hamstring injury. He is expected to be back for their semifinals match against India. Kane Williamson is their key player as 30% of the team's runs have come from him alone. Though their batsmen are not in-form, their bowlers are throwing at speeds of about 93 mph, giving them a fighting chance. The world cup 2019 schedule will see top team India going up against New Zealand in the first match of the semifinals, which will be held on July 9. Following this, England and defending champion Australia will face each other on June 11. The championship game of the ICC World Cup will be held on Sunday, July 14.

"Cometh the hour, cometh the champions." When it comes to rising from wreckage, Australians are the absolute masters. They are often described as bent on winning, no matter the cost. This attitude makes them look arrogant and even cheats at times but their never-say-die spirit puts them apart from the rest of the world. Going back to the 80s when the Australian cricket was in some disarray, a gentleman called Allan Border took charge and Australia has never looked back since then. If you look at the way they have played through the last two decades, you feel that they are butchers. They don't just beat the opposition, they choke them and humiliate them until their opposition surrenders. They have been led by inspirational captains like Allan Border, Mark Taylor, Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke. They always led by example and taught their players to play hard and give their 100% Australian cricket has not produced just cricketers, it has produced fighters. Imagine if Steve Waugh had not fought a lost battle against India at Sydney in 2004, India perhaps would have won their first test series in Australia. When it comes to the belief that "we can win", no one had it more than the great Shane Warne. The 1996 World Cup semi-final against the West Indies was lost long ago. Shane Warne though had other ideas. He spun the match in the favour of the Aussies and they went on to win from nowhere. He did something similar in the Ashes 2006. The Australian players themselves resigned to the fact they could not win that test match. But Warne said a few magical words in the dressing room when turned the tide in Australian's favour. Glenn Mcgrath was also a similar character. He would predict a complete whitewash for the opposition before the start of every series and then he would lead by example. Another thing that has been unique to Australia is their tough mental character. They believe they can't lose. In fact, they find winning ways from precarious situations. They are not overawed by the situations and back their skills. This the reason why their big players stand up at critical phases of the game. This is how you win World Cups and they have as many as five of them. Clearly, they are the world-beaters. If we would make an all-time XI for the last two or three decades, we can pick almost all the eleven players from Australia. They produced innumerable match-winners, so many of whom are regarded as legends of the game. Having so many quality players as they had over the years would make the perfect case for them to dominate world cricket for so long. They would study the opposition and exploit its weaknesses. However, they always played on their strengths and not on others' weaknesses. Such confidence comes through repeated performances which always reflected in their body language. Once they got hold of the opposition, they would torment them and literally embarrass them. No matter how good the Australians are off the field, they have always been far from amiable on the field. They would sledge their opponents in such a manner that it would cause a lapse in their concentration. They often said controversial things just before the start of a series to pump their rivals up. Mcgrath said he would torment Brian Lara in the 1999 World Cup though that was a must-win game for the Aussies. However, he kept his word and Australians went on to win the World Cup. Crossing limits to win a game was going to haunt them at some stage and it did happen in 2018 post which the team in yellow was a mere shadow of the Australians that we knew. Their win percentage in 2018 was worst among all test-playing nations. That was a rare sight. However, it was only a matter of time before they would recover. The likes of West Indies have never been able to repeat past glories. Sri Lanka too has been in disarray for quite some time now. Australia, though, was not going to be in turmoil for too long. They bounced back with two series wins against India and Pakistan and they seem to be the team to beat in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. They have their key players back along with their belief. They have the momentum as well as form. So, that's what champion sides do, they raise their game when it matters. Australia does this better than the rest.