The journey to the knockout stages of the 2015 World Cup has been long but eventful. In the 41 matches played thus far, 35 centuries were scored, four in a row on the flashy blade of the retiring Sangakkara. More than 20,000 runs in just pool stage of a World Cup made the bowlers look hapless victims to flat pitches, field curbs and new ball rules. The 300 plus scores became routine with 23 and the three 400 plus ones added to the story of the bat. The record of the highest team total was bagged by Australia at 147/6 against Scotland.
And then Chris Gayle happened to the group stage, firing 215 runs in just 147 balls with 16 sixes — inspired by Rohit Sharma — and throwing the stunned Zimbabweans out of the tournament.
Not that New Zealand was far behind when it came to making some noise and it all came to their skipper Brendon McCullum to teach aggression by example — he made the quickest half ton in the history of World Cups scoring his 50 in just 18 balls and 96 per cent of these runs being scored in boundaries and only three as singles.
India, on its own became the fairy tale of the tournament, with skipper MS Dhoni leading an incredible makeover of not just its batsmen in Shikhar Dhawan and the likes but more importantly in its bowlers with Mohammed Shami standing tall as the Cup’s third most successful bowler with 15 wickets. The defending champions bowled out all oppositions, pocketed all matches and did not allow even a single 300 plus score against themselves.
Going into the knockouts, all these achievements bode well for fierce competition and juicy endings ahead — not to forget to full houses with the stands bleeding blue for all India matches, signalling the arrival of the great Indian fan on the global firmament of cricket.
Here is a short analysis of all the eight quarter-finalists who, beginning today, will be fighting for the next place on the ladder to the big ‘G’ as we all call the imposing Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Clash Of The Titans
Q/F 1: South Africa vs Sri lanka (Sydney, March 18)
This will be a befittingly palpable opener for the quarterfinals with Sri lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara looking to extend his amazing run with the bat to a fifth century though the likes of Dale Steyn (in pic) and Mornie Morkel having the job of stopping that. Both teams look evenly matched though the South Africans have the added tag of ‘chokers’ to deal with. If lankans have Sanga and Dilshan for a build-up, SA dote on AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla though the form of Quinton de Kock has been worrying. Also will be crucial who wins the toss as chasing has shown up AB’s squad in poor light. Both times while chasing in the group stages, they lost to India and Pakistan, cheaply at that. As for the Sri lankans, they will be battling injuries with their frontline spinner Rangana Herath still recovering from the spinning finger split he suffered earlier. Already there have been two replacements in the squad, including that of batsman Dinesh Chandimal who had to be sent back with an injured hamstring after lanka lost to Australia by 64 runs in the Group stage. With the Sydney weather being breezy and partly sunny for match day at 31 degrees Celsius, it’s all adding up for a big ticket evening for a titanic clash. The winner of this one, plays the semifinal at Auckland, possibly against New Zealand.
Method Faces Madness
Q/F 2: India vs Bangladesh (Melbourne, March 19)
It is March 17 today, the date on which Bangladesh had ousted India from the 2007 World Cup. But this time round, Dhoni’s squad has a bowling unit that has become the talking point for the makeover it has gone through; it has, as the skipper would like to put it, 11 fit fielders, and it sits pretty on the bat with its traditionally good strength of batters. The seaming trip of Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav and Mohit Sharma with his slower ones in the middle order, alongside the squeeze spin bowling by Ashwin and Jadeja has, so far, bowled out all oppositions at a miserly run rate. Virat Kohli (in pic) is the soundest with the bat and Shikhar Dhawan has found his form just when the skipper ordered for it. Bangladesh, on the other hand, are playing fearlessly high on success after beating England to enter the World Cup quarters for the first time in history. Their star batsman 28-year-old Mahmudullah (in pic) has struck two stunning centuries, the first by any Bangladeshi in the World Cup and their pacemaker Rubel Hossain has gotten over rape charges to charge in to the batsman at a searing 140 km/hr. On paper, however, India is a far better and more experienced team and it also has MS Dhoni at the helm who is unlikely to allow a slip to happen at this stage of the tournament. Besides, India will bleed blue in the stands and that’s something no opponent can quite deal with.
Of Home Punch & Tempests
Q/F 3: Australia vs Pakistan (Adelaide, March 20)
The Australians are in the form of their life, scoring 300-400 plus scores at a healthy rate of 7.17 runs an over in most of their group stage matches with just two losses down the line — one against New Zealand and the other against rain in Brisbane which denied them a match against Bangladesh and gave them one point on the tally. Aussie quick Mitchell Starc (in pic) leads the World Cup bowlers’ list with 16 wickets thus far from five matches and he has run through all oppositions with a fierceness of Cyclone Pam. Fire-power batters like David Warner, Shane Watson and the skipper Michael Clarke himself can give any bowling attack in the world a run for their pace or spin. But, facing this powerhouse of talent is Pakistan which has found its lost groove in the tournament and is eyeing a 1992-type comeback to the MCG for the big Final. It, however, would be an uphill task for Pakistan to mentally stand up to the mighty Aussies who would be playing on home ground, but if they do so, it’s a dangerous team to be with. Stress fracture of the pelvis ruling their lead quick, the 7 plus feet tall Mohammad Irfan, out of the remaining World Cup is one huge setback to Pakistan but Wahab Riaz (in pic) is there to take care of build-ups. The possible return of an experienced Younis Khan to the squad and the fireworks of comeback boy Sarfaraz would also make a major difference in this tempestuous team which can go either way on any given day. If it does manage to look the Aussies down, it will be going to Sydney for the semi-final, possibly against India.
Aggression Meets Spark
New Zealand are in the competition with the best NRR in both groups, an unbeaten track record and a new found aggression-at-all-cost policy under the leadership of Brendon McCullum (in pic) (strike rate of 187). In their group run, they have shown might and thunder against all oppositions, but for a brief squeeze against Australia and Starc, and have given no reason to doubt their capabilities to reach the MCG for the Final. Their quicks Tim Southee and Trent Boult have double figures in the wickets tally and playing on home ground to a much revived cricket crowd would be something the West Indies would be concerned about. But for a Chris Gayle (in pic) storm against Zimbabwe — of 215 runs — there has been little that this if-and-but Caribbean squad under a young skipper has done in this tournament. Odds are heavily against the Windies for this match on Kiwi home ground, especially with Jason Holder saying that despite carrying injury concerns Gayle is must for the squad!