Raining sixes, Crazy singles, Inside edges, Cries of Catch it, Marvelous wins, Shameful defeats
Very familiar phrases, only if you are a true Cricket fan
The Storm has hit the Oceania region this time around, 2015 Cricket World Cup
It's been almost two weeks since it started so Here i am analyzing each team's chances in a neutral fan's perspective, I'm Sri Lankan but not a biased one ;)
Tournament is 12 days and 18 matches old now so it indicates what we can expect from the coming weeks for some extent
West Indies went down to Ireland shockingly but not unexpectedly and next match come with all the guns blazing to beat Pakistan comprehensively
With all the odds against them, India makes a serious case for retaining their title with huge wins against arch rivals Pakistan & Pre-tournament favorites South Africa
Sri Lanka nearly having a embarrassing defeat against whole-hearted Afghans
In Group A, it's hard to expect a minnow fairy tale really despite you might see Afghanistan and Bangladesh fighting hard occasionally
So i'm expecting Australia, New Zealand, England and Sri Lanka to make it to quarterfinals in the respective order
Group B is pretty exciting though with Ireland comes to the contention and Pakistan losing their shape
Expect an early exit for Pakistan which means Ireland will slots in to the 4th Quarterfinal spot following India, South Africa and West indies in the order
That leaves us with four mouth watering Quarterfinal matches to be played at Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Wellington
Australia vs Ireland- Undoubtedly easiest possible QF, you wanna guess the winner?
New Zealand vs West indies - Playing at home with a pace attack hailed as best of their history and with a aggressive tactician as captain to batsmen to back it up you really can't look beyond kiwis, can you? Yes a rare Gayle storm can destroy everything but i'm backing Baz lead side to make it through to semis
South Africa vs England - Other teams might get so envy of Proteas for having to face an under-performing poms side, yet this game might go to the wire making our nails to be pruned because of South Africa's love affair with the C-tag but i hope they will cross the hurdle successfully this time around
India vs Sri Lanka - Finally yet another clash between South Asian neighbors with a history of counter punching each other in the big stage, As for the showing of the group stages India must be the clear favorites but Sri Lanka always has something in their tank for big occasions, This might be their chance to spoil the Indian party in Australia
So that makes our two all important Semi finals
Australia vs South Africa - May be two best ODI sides in the world suited two these kind of pitches and grounds clashing head to head here in Sydney, proteas' C-tag won't spare this time around and will continue haunt them with a defeat against mighty Aussies at their home turf
New Zealand vs Sri Lanka - My heart says Lions but mind & all the body says Kiwis, It's really tough to look beyond them really even though i would like to see my country going all the way for glory, they will battle hard but finally bowing their heads to a much superior side playing at their own backyard
Here we have a Trans-Tasman final then in the 2015 Cricket World cup
Australia vs New Zealand
The co-hosts to battle against each other for the ultimate title of Cricket world in front of a full-packed, 90,000 MCG crowd
Can you ask for something better?
Kiwis have never won it despite making to the knockout stages so many time, In fact this will be their first world cup final appearance, So can they do it? Can they go past these rampaging Kangaroos?
Nah, I don't think so, Micheal Clark will lift the cup!!!
Sad to see yet another world cup going to Aussie hands but they are deserved winners nevertheless
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