Now that we have two-thirds of the league matches (30 out of 45) of Cricket World Cup 2019 completed, interesting patterns emerge for the teams. Here are the standings of the teams as of today.
- New Zealand and Australia are relatively well placed and can enter semifinals with one win or with a no-result or two forced by rain.
- India are also well positioned, needing a couple of wins from four matches (or one win and few other scenarios for other teams). Given that they are yet to play with two teams that are below them in the points table as of today, they should have no issue sailing thru to semifinals.
- England are in an interesting situation. They have to play three more league matches. All these three matches are with teams that are leading ahead of them in the points table. If they manage to win only one of those three matches, then their situation becomes tricky. Points won by other teams might play a vital role in deciding their semi-final berth. In such a situation, their Net Run Rate which is the best in the table so far should come handy.
- Sri Lanka bounced back well in their last match. Two more wins would put them in a good position. Winning all three remaining matches would get them a berth.
- Bangladesh showed one of the best spirits in the tournament so far. They also need three wins to get to final four.
- Pakistan did very well against South Africa and England so far. They could put themselves in the last four if they win all the three remaining matches. If they repeat the 1992-ish feat, then we may as well see a IND vs PAK semi-final or final.
- West Indies need to win all the three matches and pray that no other team gets to 9 points. That might be next to impossible.
- South Africa and Afghanistan are already out of the race. But they might impact the prospects of other teams in the next couple of weeks.
I am personally wishing for an IND vs ENG or IND vs NZ final.