The Cricket World Cup has officially reached knockout stages after the Pool games wrapped up yesterday. The West Indies and Ireland sealed the final two quarterfinal spots in Pool B with effortless wins against UAE and Ireland respectively.
The quarterfinals are now confirmed as:
Sri Lanka v South Africa
India v Bangladesh
Australia v Pakistan
New Zealand v West Indies
Here’s how yesterday’s games panned out.
Day 29 Results
1. West Indies v UAE
The West Indies put their indifferent form and the threat of Cyclone Pam behind them to comfortably seal their place in the Cricket World Cup quarterfinals with a win over the UAE in Napier.
Needing to progress their net run rate and beat impending rain, the West Indies did everything right after winning the toss and dismissing the UAE quickly. It could well have been even quicker after the associates were 6/46; Jason Holder doing most of the damage.
There was a slight recovery. Amjad Javed and Nasir Aziz were the architects; the pair adding 107 for the 7th wicket and extending the match for the brave souls that did turn out to a rather grey McLean Park. Aziz’s innings was particularly surprising given his highest first class score is just 4. Both Aziz and Javed notched fifties, delaying the inevitable, and causing the West Indies to nervously glance skywards as the partnership progressed.
The West Indies easily reach the mediocre target. They needed to chase it within 33 overs to ensure a playoff position (barring a tie on the later Adelaide game), and managed to do with 3 overs to spare. The relatively unused extended squad members, Johnson Charles and Jonathan Carter, did the bulk of the scoring. Charles looked frenetic, Carter composed as their fifties atoned for Chris Gayle’s absence.
The West Indies set a date with New Zealand in Wellington where they’ll believe anything can happen.
West Indies 176 for 4 (Charles 55, Carter 50*) beat UAE 175 (Aziz 60, Javed 56, Holder 4-27) by six wickets
2. Pakistan v Ireland
Ireland’s fairytale run in the Cricket World Cup came to an abrupt end when they were well-beaten by Pakistan in the final Pool game of the tournament.
After witnessing the West Indies dispatch the UAE, Ireland needed at least a tie to make it through to a knockout match but failed to summon the batting performance necessary to test a vulnerable Pakistan batting unit. William Porterfield (107) fought bravely, but lacked support in a total that appeared to be 50 short of a competitive score based on the surface, and 80 short based on the Irish bowling attack. What Riaz the best bowler with three wickets, with the other 7 shared amongst Sohail Khan and Rahat Ali, and others.
In reply, Pakistan never threatened to let nerves get the better of them. They chased the total with remarkable ease to set up a quarterfinal against tournament favourites Australia. Sarfraz was the star of the show. He made a mature hundred to anchor the chase, after the bulk of the total was knocked off by him and Ahmed Shehzad (63). Sarfraz has made an excellent contribution in the two games he has featured in, with both bat and gloves. 6 dismissals and 150 runs is an excellent return from two games, and he has likely secured a place in the starting team for the Australian match also in Adelaide.
Pakistan 241 for 3 (Sarfraz 101*, Shehzad 63) beat Ireland 237 (Porterfield 107, Wahab 3-54) by seven wickets
Betfair:
Bet on Henrik Stenson to become the BMW PGA Championship Winner.
Paddypower:
Back Australia to take the Ashes home with them.
Betway:
Back Rafael Nadal to become the Mens French Open Winner.
Coral:
Back One For Arthur to win the Grand National.
Bet365:
Back Mexico to win the Confederations Cup.
