[On4Wheels]

Originally Posted by harry10

First of all my 4 semi finalist prediction -

India
Australia
New Zealand
South Africa.

Congrats! The semifinalists are almost confirmed as you predicted rightly. Unless Pakistan comes up with massive win, which has very low probability, this wold cup would be a historical recurrence of the 1999 and 2019 world cup semifinals.

Australia vs. South Africa (1999)
India vs. New Zealand (2019)

Will it be a reprise or revenge?

The bitterness of 1999 world cup semifinal might the one that South Africa wanted to forget. At the same time, Australia has bounced back to the game like a wounded animal as they did in 1999 world cup. Can South Africa stop them this time?

Similarly, we need (India) to give a befitting reply to New Zealand for the 2019 semifinal loss. In the history of world cup, New Zealand has 100% win against India in knock-out stage. Will India change the history this time?

If Australia wins first one and India wins the second, we would be able to see repetition of 2003 world cup final. 359/2! I am .

[harry10]

Originally Posted by On4Wheels

Congrats! The semifinalists are almost confirmed as you predicted rightly. Unless Pakistan comes up with massive win, which has very low probability, this wold cup would be a historical recurrence of the 1999 and 2019 world cup semifinals.

Australia vs. South Africa (1999)
India vs. New Zealand (2019)

Will it be a reprise or revenge?

If Australia wins first one and India wins the second, we would be able to see repetition of 2003 world cup final. 359/2! I am .

Thanks for reminding me.
I only predicted them because they were most balanced and in form before the world cup. I was 99% sure England won't make semis but never thought they will be trundling at the bottom. Pakistan and SL didn't had the squad or form behind them to make it to Semis and Bangladesh has never done anything of note when needed so. Afghanistan have been pleasantly better than I expected them to be and Dutch are getting there. All in all four best and deserving teams are playing the semis.

I would love to see SA win the semis and play the finals. This is an awesome squad they have assembled barring Bavuma who I don't think fits in the set up. Plus they have never played a World cup final so they should. Although Aussies magically bring their best in semis and finals when it comes to World cups.

I am not worried about India. We will play the finals for sure.

[dust-n-bones]

Originally Posted by am1m

As long as the top 3-4 teams are doing well, their domestic market will ensure the game goes on. And a win for us here will ensure that the biggest domestic market of them all will do even better. (Even the 'cricket' thread on our forum is basically the 'Indian cricket' thread. )

I think the problem is that everyone else, bar none, feels dis-enfranchised in front of India. England, the home of cricket, who hosted the 2019 WC used to complain that beer was being advertised in their stadiums that wasn't available anywhere but India. Think about it. A beer maker has 0 interest in selling to a market which prides itself in its beer gulping skills.
It was a tournament hosted in England for the sole purpose of being beamed to India. You see the sea of blue in a England or Aus home game to understand how hopeless it has become.
And you see the result in the level of excitement (the lack of it actually) in the traditional powerhouses of cricket during this world cup. That is a worrying sign for domestic setups across the world.

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Basketball, American Football, Soccer and now Cricket. All money making sports and all having a more healthy (read:financially) club based setup over the country based setup. National cricket associations like those for West Indies, Pakistan and a few more are floundering. It's not very far away that the new generation of players will decide to aim directly for the clubs instead of going up the usual route for their country teams.

The difference in other games and cricket is that the balance between tension/suspense and action is now skewed towards mindless action, thanks to the demands of TV. As a counterpoint, look at an NBA/NFL/EPL game, they have got an exquisite tension/action balance for all 3 hours. That's a great formula for retaining and expanding your fanbase. A franchise sport which has already dis-enfranchised its legacy markets, and unlikely to grow more is looking for trouble.

Originally Posted by antz.bin

Instead of calling it the battle of mediocrities, lets consider that barring India, all the games have had some context to them and results have been unpredictable and hence enjoyable.

Unpredictable yes, battle of skills, doubtful. Most teams have come from a T20 treadmill directly to a 50 over format, without adjusting for pace. Is a telling sign that they don't really care about it.

[dailydriver]

Cricket being the game of great uncertainties, can something hugely insane be expected of today's match that could result in our neighbor entering the last four? (I know, I know )


Source: Twitter

[searacer932]

Some people on internet are complaining that it was against the spirit of cricket that England chose to bat after winning the toss.

[Thalla]

The semi-finals lineup is now confirmed. It will be India vs New Zealand and South Africa vs Australia. My prediction for the FINAL is India vs South Africa.

[Revvatron]

I got the semis prediction totally wrong. The tournament being held in sub continent I thought atleast 2 teams if not 3 Asian teams will qualify. But only one team qualified for semis from sub continent.

[searacer932]

Originally Posted by Revvatron

I got the semis prediction totally wrong. The tournament being held in sub continent I thought atleast 2 teams if not 3 Asian teams will qualify. But only one team qualified for semis from sub continent.

You were not the only one! Lot of experts predicted the following line up

1. Ind
2. Eng
3. Aus
4. Pakistan / NZ

I don't think many people predicted Eng not in Top #4 and South Africa in Top #4.

[Revvatron]

Originally Posted by searacer932

You were not the only one! Lot of experts predicted the following line up

1. Ind
2. Eng
3. Aus
4. Pakistan / NZ

I don't think many people predicted Eng not in Top #4 and South Africa in Top #4.

My prediction was Ind, Pak, Aus, SL/SA. I didn't fancy Eng at all mainly due to the fact that they don't have good bowling line up irrespective of sub-continent conditions. Didn't fancy Nz too as they had bad form coming into the tournament but they made good use of their easy games earlier in the tournament. Definitely didn't expect their batting to be this good.

[rx100]

Originally Posted by Revvatron

I didn't fancy Eng at all mainly due to the fact that they don't have good bowling line up irrespective of sub-continent conditions. Didn't fancy Nz too as they had bad form coming into the tournament.

England was known for their deep batting line up. They have proper batters till no 9. But that failed big this time. Out of the 6 matches they lost, 5 were due to their batting struggles.

NZ won 4 of their 5 matches against weaker opponents. They played against weaker teams initially that gave the strong impression of them earlier. They somehow scrape through with poor show from England and mediocre performance from Pak. But in knockouts situation could be totally different.

Total surprise were the South Africa this time given their history of poor shows in ICC tournaments.

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by rx100

Total surprise were the South Africa this time given their history of poor shows in ICC tournaments.

I think they are paying average. They belted out huge scores against lower-ranked teams which is now a common thing with shorter boundaries.

They collapsed against India. And nearly choked against Pakistan. Their only convincing victory was against Australia but the Aussies have since found their rhythm again. NZ beat them in the warm-up game and lost the one that counted.

I feel SA will be thrashed by Australia again in the semis.

[ObsessedByFIAT]

What a beautiful knock by Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul! Wished Kohli could have done a little better. Nonetheless, it's the first time in World Cup that top 5 players of India all have scored 50+!

Let's see what the ballers do today!

[avdhesh15]

Originally Posted by ObsessedByFIAT

Let's see what the ballers do today!

I'm hopeful that Shami gets 6 and becomes the highest wicket taker in the tournament!

[Thalla]

Originally Posted by Revvatron

I got the semis prediction totally wrong. The tournament being held in sub continent I thought atleast 2 teams if not 3 Asian teams will qualify. But only one team qualified for semis from sub continent.

Yes, a lot of people and pundits predicted England and Pakistan to reach the semi-finals but both teams couldn't make it. One probably for being too aggressive and the other one of being too defensive.

[Fx14]

Originally Posted by ObsessedByFIAT

Let's see what the ballers do today!

Kohli and Rohit too bowled after a long time and got a wicket each.