One of the biggest events in the cricketing calendar is already at its halfway point and the competition has already seen broken records, shock results and nail-biting finishes. Be it individual genius from the likes of Chris Gayle or A.B. De Villiers, or spectacular displays of teamwork such as Ireland against the West Indies, the first stages of the 2015 Cricket World Cup have seen a spectacular display of cricketing ability (and quite a dismal display at times). With half the matches already played there are clearly some front runners, however there is still an awful lot to play for. With must win matches for qualification, there are certainly going to be some incredible showdowns in the next few weeks. Here’s how the teams have fared so far…
Afghanistan
Afghanistan have not had the best of tournaments so far, suffering a heavy loss of 105 runs to Bangladesh in their opening match and losing to Sri Lanka in their second. However, Afghanistan have certainly entertained us, with an exceptionally close game against Scotland and a game against Sri Lanka who scraped across the line in Dunedin, going down to the penultimate over. With three remaining games against Australia, New Zealand and England, Afghanistan are going to have to pull out all the stops to win any of their remaining games. Their final match against England could be an interesting one, looking to cause upset with an early exit from the competition for the opposing team.
Australia
Going into the tournament as one of the favourites on the back of good form (winning the tri-series prior to the World Cup) and being the hosts, there has been a lot of expectation surrounding Australia. Their opening game against England proved how formidable the team could be, winning by 111 runs with a 5-fer for Marsh and giving themselves a substantial head start on net run-rate. However, after a rained off game against Bangladesh, Australia looked to face their toughest opponent of the group and the one in the best form New Zealand. In a thrilling game in which New Zealand won by one wicket, Trent Boult decimated Australia’s batting line-up to give Brendon McCullum and Kane Williamson the grounds to defeat their toughest opponent, leaving Australia on 1 game won, 1 game lost and 1 no-result at the half-way stage.
Australia’s opening game against England proved how formidable the team could be
Bangladesh
So far Bangladesh’s World Cup has been a bit of a mixed bag; though they will be pleased with the fact that they have been able to come out of the game against Australia with a point after rain called off the game. In their other two matches Bangladesh managed a substantial win over Afghanistan winning by 105 runs and securing their first victory of the series. A heavy defeat to Sri Lanka by 92 runs has meant that Bangladesh will need to perform well in their remaining games if they hope to qualify for the next round. Looking at the remaining games of the tournament it appears as though there will be an outright battle between Bangladesh and England for fourth place. With their most difficult match being against New Zealand on the 13th March, the team are going to have to improve on their performance against Sri Lanka to qualify.
England
With a promising looking team on paper, England have the talent and ability to go far in this contest, however their failure against the bigger teams early on has put them under pressure in the latter stages of qualification. Suffering heavy defeats to Australia by 111 runs, to New Zealand by 8 wickets and to Sri Lanka by 9 wickets means that their final games are must wins. The team will need to take the momentum of their crushing win against Scotland to make sure that they don’t slip up against teams such as Bangladesh and Afghanistan. The toughest of the two tests comes on the 9th March, both England and Bangladesh needing to secure a win to take them through to the quarter-finals. The England team will need to put their previous losses against the toughest teams in their group behind them to try and find that winning combination that can take them through to the quarter-finals.
India
India have been the outstanding team of Pool B, unbeaten at the top of the table and having improved their performance drastically from that of the tri-series before the World Cup. Of the three games India have played, each victory has been fairly substantial, particularly their performance against an exceptionally strong South African side. Their opening game against old rivals Pakistan resulted in a victory of 76 runs, whilst they cruised easily to a 9 wicket win over the UAE. Quite incredibly though was their performance against South Africa who they defeated by 130 runs, taming the brilliance of the likes of de Villiers and Amla. With their most formidable opponent beaten it is highly likely that India will finish the group stages unbeaten and, on current form, it would appear going into the latter stages of the tournament that their biggest rivals will be New Zealand.
The England team will need to put their previous losses against the toughest teams in their group behind them to try and find that winning combination
Ireland
Whilst much of the focus coming into the World Cup remained on teams such as New Zealand and Australia, it could be argued that Ireland have somewhat stolen the limelight with two thrilling World Cup games to kick off their campaign. Having surprised everybody in the 2011 World Cup by defeating England, Ireland caused a new shock this year with their defeat of the West Indies in the opening match of the tournament. Ireland chased down 305 with 25 balls to spare, with strong partnership between Stirling and Joyce. Their second match against the UAE was equally as thrilling, going down to the final over. If Ireland continue to perform in the way they have been then they will most certainly qualify for the quarter finals; having already outplayed the West Indies, Ireland are looking to show dominance in this tournament and just how formidable a side they can be.
Laura Williamson
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Image courtesy of telegraph.co.uk/sport
