Week 5 of the ICC World Cup 2015

This week saw the end of the qualification matches .. While Group A  teams that qualified  got settled well ahead of the  final around of matches , Group B went till the last match and Pakistan and WI got through at  the expense of the Irish. Irish looked jaded in their matches against  India and Pak and lost out an great opportunity to get to  the Quarters..

Group  A qualifiers saw  the exit of England and that was not as per the script. Bangla  Tigers did the surprise that I was keenly waiting to happen.

So the Quarter Line ups see SA play  SL ,  India Playing Bangla Tigers , Aussies Play Pakistan and NZ play  WI .. From here on it is anybody’s game .. Every team fancies their chances and  hope to get past their rivals.

Bangla Versus England and NZ

England needed a win to stay in the race for the qualification.  Bangla batted first and put up a par score which I thought the English would get with some overs to watch. But some bad batting by the middle order and their captain Eoin Morgan being in the news for all the wrong reasons and his form ensuring that his hits find the fielders , England found itself in deep trouble. Late rearguard action by Butler and Woakes could not carry them through. Bangla team bowled and fielded with lot of spirit and that ended England’s misery at the World Cup. I think England was a team that decided before the World cup that they will not be a challenge  to any of the teams. The team selection was poor and their main bowler Jimmy Anderson was ineffective all through the tournament  ( a retirement notice on the way  for Anderson ? ) . Bangla also gave a scare to NZ before NZ scampered home .  Bangla was one team that had a plan for McCullum and they did get him cheaply. India play Bangla and  cannot take them lightly at all .. Bangla has a team that can  just cause the upset on that day.  Watch out India as they play their Quarter finals

 The Indian team Performance  this week

India got past Ireland in a clinical fashion. Ireland threatened but could not just press the pedal when needed. India’s match against Zimbabwe was a thriller all through. With Brendon Taylor and Williams counter attacking the spinners , they looked to post a score of 300 plus. However a collapse thanks to some good bowling and important breakthrough created by Mohit , Shami and Yadav ensured Zimbabwe did not get to 300 plus total  and were all out at 287 . Now, India has bowled out their opposition in all their six matches. This speaks very good about the bowling attack which was a major worry bee.

India in  reply found itself in a great spot of bother and clearly Zimbabwe had the upper hand. One more wicket  could have  put the match in to Zimbabwe’s hands and there  opportunity  presented itself but butter fingers let Raina off the hook and with that the match was gone. MSD played a cool knock . Content to get singles at the start , MSD was clear that bad balls will come and then he could explode. At one point the asking rate  was so high , I thought winning  was beyond the Indian team . But with Zimbabwe bowlers inexperience , and with Raina and Dhoni  exploding at the right time  it was the sixth victory for the team.  It was amazing to watch MSD bat the way he did – calm assurance , totally in control of the situation and never panicking, pacing the innings so well and then the clinical finish – a six to seal the win.  All of us were aware that India will qualify for the quarters but no one thought that they would do this in such an emphatic manner and make a statement of intent.

West Indies puffed their way in and so did Pakistan but Pakistan played very well to snuff out the Irish Challenge.

It is going to be exciting games ahead – with the knock out phase matches