After a month of some high quality, electrifying Cricket it?s time for Knock-Outs. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 jointly hosted by Australia & New Zealand till now has proved to be a great success. Lots of high scoring games, Close Encounters, Gayle?s double hundred, AB De?villiers brutal hitting to some deadly pace & swing bowling by Mitchell Starc, Trent Boult, Mohammad Shami & Co.It has been a true festival of Cricket. Associate Nations also made their mark in the World Cup & it will be very cruel of ICC if they reduce the 2019 edition to 10 country event. Overall, World Cup has entertained Cricket Addicts all around the globe.
Finally the most crucial phase of the tournament is starting on Wednesday i.e. 18thMarch when South Africa will lock horns against Sri Lanka at SCG in the 1stquarterfinal. All the teams which were fancied to reach the quarter finals before the start of the Tournament have qualified barring England who is elegantly replaced by resurgent Bangladesh Team who knocked the ?Poms? out of the Tournament by beating them in the league phase last week.
After Sri Lanka ? Proteas battle on 18th,?another #BlockbusteratMCG ?is scheduled on 19th?when the World Champions India take on Bangladeshi Tigers. The 3rd?quarter?final is between the Unpredictables Pakistan & the deadly hosts Australia at Adelaide Oval on 20th. Co-Hosts New Zealand will battle it out against the dangerous West Indies in the last quarter final game on 21st?March at Wellington.
As per the current form in the league games South Africa, India, Australia & New Zealand are favorites to qualify for the Semis. But cricket is the game of glorious uncertainties so anything can happen on a given day. But one thing is for sure that the four games coming up will all be high-voltage affairs with tension growing every second minute. One bad game & its over. Take for example India or New Zealand, if they by any chance crumble under pressure and lose their matches both the favorites who hold the 6 ? 0 winning record in league phases will be out of the Tournament.
So let?s get ready for the Tension filled week in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. Its AB?s cunning batting vs Malinga?s slinging Yorkers, Its between Rohit?s elegant Stroke Play vs Shakib-Al-Hasan?s all round skills, its Mitchell Johnson & Starc?s lethal bowling vs Misbah-Ul-Haq?s experience & its between Gayle-Force & Southee-Bolt fast swing bowling show. So fasten your seat belts as huge week of Cricket is coming ahead. Cancel all your appointments, take leave from work & enjoy the magic of the beautiful event called World Cup that comes only once in 4 years.