The way is clear.
India are now the hot favourites. Never mind that their batting collapsed twice consecutively in the league stage. Or that their bowling and fielding are supposedly not up to the mark. The co-host stormed into the semifinals after a spirited game and five-wicket win. They will play unpredictable neighbour Pakistan on Wednesday for a place in the final.
New Zealand, on the other hand, may not be the kind of side which falls explicitly under the category of teams which 'can win', but when a team beats what was declared as the favourite by Steve Waugh, not to mention the author, one can't help but conclude that they could pull off an unlikely but possible first World Cup victory.
Today, Sri Lanka and England clash in the last quarterfinal for a semifinal spot, and I'm going for a Sri Lanka victory. If England have a good day, like they did twice in Chennai, then they could go through, but inconsistency is not respected in the knockouts. Murali will also be hoping to get closer to Glenn McGrath's record 71 World Cup wickets.
All the previous paragraphs are sans any mention of the words 'Australia' and 'South Africa', which have been uttered in the same breath as 'favourite' because the two sides have gone home in their respective directions owing to them going down in thrilling losing causes. I will have to eat my words about the 'chokers' tag, because South Africa are the rightful owners. One more heartbreak was added to their long list, after falling short of New Zealand's unimpressive 221 by 49 runs.
Earlier, there was an upset of sorts as India beat Australia in Ahmedabad. Australia went at a similar pace throughout the innings, save for some hitting in the end, and posted 260. Such a target is not too hard to defend when you have bowlers of Brett Lee and Shaun Tait's quality. They succeeded in one aspect of bowling, picking up wickets, but the other important aspect, containing runs, was ignored once the fifth wicket fell. Yuvraj Singh, again impressing with an all-round performance, and Suresh Raina successfully brought down the required run rate within easy reach and snapped it up with 14 balls to spare. The last ball was a stylish boundary, and Yuvraj Singh exulted in front of an exhilarated Ahmedabad crowd.
Of the five teams left, I think only India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are of World Cup-winning calibre. There can still be upsets.
Today will be exciting - the revealing of the identity of the fourth semifinalist and the green light shown for the awaited F1 season 2011. Have fun!
India are now the hot favourites. Never mind that their batting collapsed twice consecutively in the league stage. Or that their bowling and fielding are supposedly not up to the mark. The co-host stormed into the semifinals after a spirited game and five-wicket win. They will play unpredictable neighbour Pakistan on Wednesday for a place in the final.
New Zealand, on the other hand, may not be the kind of side which falls explicitly under the category of teams which 'can win', but when a team beats what was declared as the favourite by Steve Waugh, not to mention the author, one can't help but conclude that they could pull off an unlikely but possible first World Cup victory.
Today, Sri Lanka and England clash in the last quarterfinal for a semifinal spot, and I'm going for a Sri Lanka victory. If England have a good day, like they did twice in Chennai, then they could go through, but inconsistency is not respected in the knockouts. Murali will also be hoping to get closer to Glenn McGrath's record 71 World Cup wickets.
All the previous paragraphs are sans any mention of the words 'Australia' and 'South Africa', which have been uttered in the same breath as 'favourite' because the two sides have gone home in their respective directions owing to them going down in thrilling losing causes. I will have to eat my words about the 'chokers' tag, because South Africa are the rightful owners. One more heartbreak was added to their long list, after falling short of New Zealand's unimpressive 221 by 49 runs.
Earlier, there was an upset of sorts as India beat Australia in Ahmedabad. Australia went at a similar pace throughout the innings, save for some hitting in the end, and posted 260. Such a target is not too hard to defend when you have bowlers of Brett Lee and Shaun Tait's quality. They succeeded in one aspect of bowling, picking up wickets, but the other important aspect, containing runs, was ignored once the fifth wicket fell. Yuvraj Singh, again impressing with an all-round performance, and Suresh Raina successfully brought down the required run rate within easy reach and snapped it up with 14 balls to spare. The last ball was a stylish boundary, and Yuvraj Singh exulted in front of an exhilarated Ahmedabad crowd.
Of the five teams left, I think only India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are of World Cup-winning calibre. There can still be upsets.
Today will be exciting - the revealing of the identity of the fourth semifinalist and the green light shown for the awaited F1 season 2011. Have fun!
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