Australia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan to make it to semi-finals of ICC World Cup 2011
Which teams will make it to the final four of the World Cup? It is difficult to predict, especially with most experts claiming that this year’s event will be an open one. However, some teams do have the right balance and combination, which puts them in a better position compared to others.
The foremost target of each team will be to make it to the knock-out stages of the tournament. After that, it is anyone’s game.
The real battle will start from the semi-final stage and the four teams most likely to make it to the stage are Australia, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758, and Pakistan. These teams have the best combinations in terms of batting, bowling and utility all-rounders.
However, these teams won’t ease into the semi-final stage as they will face fierce competition from opponents like http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 and England.
Australia have won the previous three World Cup consecutively in 1999, 2003 and 2007, but the Kangaroos are not hot favourites this time around. Though they are the number one team in One Day Internationals (ODIs), playing in the subcontinent will be a big challenge for them.
The reigning champions were unable to win any of the warm-up matches, but that will not be a major issue for them. They will still be confident of a good show as they have just ended a very good ODI series win against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c749.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 have the right combination of all-rounders and specialist crickets that will help them make it to the semi-final of the mega event. However, it will be difficult for the Aussies to make it to the final this year.
The players to watch for in the Australian camp are captain Ricky Ponting, Shane Watson, Cameron White, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Brett-Lee-c48419 and Mitchell Johnson.
South Africa is another team likely to make it to the semi-final stage of this year’s World Cup. The Proteas have always entered the World Cup as one of the favourites, but they haven’t qualified for the final once in the past. This time will be an ideal opportunity for them to make history. Playing in the subcontinent will be a challenge for the Proteas too, but they have a very well-balanced bowling attack led by some match-winning fast bowlers and spinners.
Their flexibility allows them to bat deep and they undoubtedly have one of the best all-rounders of all time - Jacques Kallis. Other players to watch out for other than Kallis will be Hashim Amla, Dale Steyn, Morné Morkel and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/JP-Duminy-c1742.
Asian teams cannot be ruled out of this World Cup, considering the home field advantage they have.
Sri Lanka have been in good form in the recent past, which will definitely allow them to put up a good show.
The World Cup co-hosts also have a very well-balanced side considering their options with both bat and ball. They have some utility players at their top order and then some world-class batsmen in the middle-order.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Muttiah-Muralitharan-c78157, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Angelo Matthews, Mahela Jayawardene and captain Kumar Sangakkara will be critical for Sri Lanka’s chances.
And last, but not least is Pakistan. The Men in Green may not be considered as the favourites by many, but considering the options they have, they are serious contenders of the title this year.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 have some quality bowlers and a combination of youth and experience in their batting line-up. There is also no doubt about the all-round capabilities of Pakistan as they have some of the most dangerous all-rounders of the time in their team.
The team has some promising young batsmen like http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Saeed-Ajmal-c87859.
Though Team India is considered the hot favourite for the ICC World Cup 2011, the Men in Blue don’t have the best combination. They have one of the finest batting units, but they lack a quality bowling attack. This is a major drawback for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750, and will not make life easy for the co-hosts to make it to the final four of the tournament, especially in batting-friendly conditions.
(Disclaimer: The views expressed by the writer are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of www.bettor.com)
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