Thursday, September 27, 2012

Analyzing the Super 8 stage of World T20

The first round of World T20 internationals are now done and dusted. Eight teams qualified for the Super 8 stage. If you were asked on gun-point to predict the 8 teams, I am sure you would have guessed it right! Following are the 8 teams qualified for Super 8 (in the order of seeding / ranking):

Group A: England, India
Group B: Australia, West Indies
Group C: Sri Lanka, South Africa
Group D: Pakistan, New Zealand

Now, ICC T20 championship has an different format that decides who plays whom in the Super Eight. You can read about the "why and how" of the format here. Thanks to the format, we now have 2 new groups 1 and 2 comprising of following teams:

Group 1: England, West Indies, Sri Lanka and New Zealand
Group 2: India, Australia, South Africa and Pakistan

Let's have a look at how the qualified teams have fared so far in the championship:


You don't need to be a cricket expert to identify the proverbial group of death! It's Group 2. The four teams in Group 2 have won all their T20 matches so far. And all the teams in Group 1 have either lost one or, in West Indies' case, yet to win one! Strangely, what it does for the viewers is that we can look forward to some mouth-watering clashes in the coming days like Australia vs South Africa, India vs Pakistan, India vs Australia, India vs South Africa (all from Group 2). The matches involving West Indies and New Zealand will be interesting if one or some among Chris Gayle, Ross Taylor, Brendon McCullum, Pollard gets going.

Prediction: Prediction in T20 is like predicting the rains in Mumbai - Anything can happen anytime! But we still have the Met department trying their best! So, even i'll give it a shot:

Group 1: I expect Sri Lanka (based on home conditions and home support) and either of New Zealand or West Indies to qualify. England will really have to perform to the best of their abilities to be considered as a championship contender especially after surrendering tamely against India.

Group 2: You can't put your money on any team to qualify safely. Based on current form, I expect South Africa (as I always do in all the cricket world cups) to qualify for the knock-out stages. They are easily the team to beat. The only area they lack is a quality spinner in sub-continent conditions. India has convincingly defeated the current world champions but still have their problems with the best playing 11. Australia are slowly emerging to be strong contenders to win the only championship they haven't won. Pakistan's chances depend on which team they field on a given day. They are capable of beating the best and are equally capable of falling like a pack of cards. Watch out for the India-Pakistan match though!

If India doesn't go on to win the T20 World Cup, I personally would like to see South Africa or West Indies win. It's high time they get their hands on the coveted cup.

The only dampener here would be the climate in Sri Lanka. Rains have ensured we don't get to see some close finishes we expect in a T20 match. Let's just hope the rain god's delay their schedule and instead watch the action unfolding in Sri Lanka.

Looking forward to 10 entertaining days of T20 action.

6 comments:

  1. Yeah, I'm looking forward to the matches too. If not India, I would love to see Sri Lanka take the cup. Rain threats are a real dampener but here's hoping for the best. The coming days will really be interesting watching all the action unfold!

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    1. And as we speak, Sri Lanka just defeated New Zealand after taking the match to the super over! :) The coming days will be very interesting.

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  2. Ahh Aussies have not won this one haan! I am glad for that. Ofcourse I wish India to get this one, else I am betting for SA. I always had a soft corner for them.

    Group 2 having all winners, that's a bit unfair. Considering they won all matches, atleast now they should have some slack. Pitting them against each other, really not fair. Although ofcourse we all like always in India(and in Pakistan) are looking forward to Pak - Ind match! Epic, each one!

    As always super analysis Binu. I re-iterate you place is in that commentary box :-)

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    1. Thanks Jenny. Actually, you know what, we Indians are great analyzing cricket matches / tournaments / pitches etc.. We all do! :) And hence, the competition is huge. :D

      Pitting top teams together seems a bit unfair. But as we know, there are some financial reasons for the same. :)

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  3. Hey thanks Binu, for stopping by my blog... will keep popping up by you, now and then, but a lot of what you write is Cricket, now I will be in a muddle / I will be learning smth new (again)

    Do stop by my blog!! I'd love your visits & comments!

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    1. Thanks for visiting my blog Kappu :) Now, you will be learning something new each week, I guess ;-)

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All yours..

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