It cannot get any better than this. 4 teams-Australia, Srilanka, South Africa and New Zealand, now have a realistic chance of winning the World Cup. Australia is a clear favourite. But this is the game of cricket; never discount the chances of others. This edition has been interesting thanks to the teams involved and their undying desire to win the cup. The super eights have been a revelation. All these 4 teams have shown their spirit by adapting to the conditions here and playing in a very sensible manner – very creditable for the professionalism that they have portrayed.
This time, it will not take a Nostradamus to find the team that will move to the next round. The writing is simple. The money is now on these teams. But who will go further to win the cup? All the predicted four have shown maturity and all characteristics required to make a champion team.
My prediction of the outcome at the end of super eights is Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Sri Lanka in the order of their rankings. South Africa and Srilanka will have the same points but since South Africa had beaten Sri Lanka, it will end up higher. The first semi-final will be between Australia and Sri Lanka where my bet is on Sri Lanka. They will cohere together as a unit and beat the Aussies. In the other semi-final, New Zealand will take on South Africa and emerge triumphant.
That leaves the final to be between 2 very evenly placed teams. Both the teams are so capable of upsetting the opposition and they have a team which is very adaptable to any conditions, be it spin or pace bowling. But my gut feeling suggests that New Zealand is going to have the last laugh. Anyone has a different reasoning? Share it…
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