 Group B is the more exciting of the two groups so far. They have been able to
create some magic through some close, exciting games and that has meant that there
are many teams there which can still make it to the quarter-finals. On the other
hand, in Group A, it is already known which teams will make it to the quarter-final,
only their order needs to be decided.
Starting with Group A, both, Pakistan have three wins from three games and
are looking good at the top of the group. They have beaten Sri Lanka
as one of the main sides apart from having played and won against Kenya
and Canada. The Canada game was a thrilling encounter but with Shahid Afridi picking up five more wickets, it left them with a depressing sight.
Australia, on the other hand, have also played three games and while they won
against New Zealand and Zimbabwe, the points were split between them and Sri
Lanka after the game was abandoned due to rain. This means that they are second
in the table with five points from three.
Sri Lanka lost to Pakistan but won their games against Canada and Kenya rather
easily. Then, they had their game against Australia abandoned, which meant that
the side has five from four games.
New Zealand started with the thrashing of Kenya in their first game but went
down easily to the Aussies. This was followed by the beating of Zimbabwe with
ease, which has left them with four from three games.
In the group B, it is interesting to see that the South Africa have
four from two, India have three from two, England have three from three, West
Indies have four from three. But it is not only these teams, because Bangladesh
and Ireland have both got 2 points from their games.
Even as this article is being written, England are playing South Africa while
the rest of the day will see India play Ireland. Now Ireland had beaten England,
who had tied with India. England are struggling with an early loss of three
wickets and if they go on to lose this match, they will be left with only games
against Bangladesh and West Indies. On the other hand, India should be able
to put it across Ireland and make it five points from three games and with a
game still remaining against Netherlands, they will be good to go through to
the quarter-finals.
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