The ICC ODI World Cup 2023 has reached its halfway point, and the journey so far has been no short of proper Box-office entertainment for each and every team competing for the Elusive Glory. Few teams have lived upto expectations, few have exceeded expectations while few have failed to justify the hype revolving around them. The points table gives a proper image of what the world has been witnessing from the past few weeks. Here is the summary of what has happened thus far:
India & New Zealand stamp Dominance, while England & Australia yet to cut loose
The 4 teams which entered the Tournament as Heavyweights have had contrasting performances thus far with India and New Zealand taking the top two spots respectively. While India is yet to lose a game so far, New Zealand have lost just a game which was against India.
Australia started the Tournament with back-to-back defeats but have got back to winning ways in the next 2 matches and sit on the 4th spot currently. They will hope to maintain their winning streak if they wish to have a bite at the Semi Finals spot.
With all things going around, against all expectations and hype, Defending Champions England are languishing at the bottom of the table and have entered the must-win territory quite early into the tournament.
South Africa & Pakistan live upto their ‘Unpredictables’ Tag
Both South Africa and Pakistan have been guilty of losing games which everyone expects them to win easily and thus they have been the recipients of the ‘Unpredictables’ Tag quite often. While South Africa, though comfortably sitting on the 3rd Spot, have lost a relatively easier contest against Netherlands, Pakistan’s defeat against Afghanistan have hit their semi-finals hopes more than a bit. However, against all talks, South Africa and Pakistan are experiencing contrasting campaigns currently, with the former expected to clinch a Semi-final spot rather comfortably.
Afghanistan and Netherlands ‘Upset’ Cricketing Giants
Afghanistan is having their Best World Cup Campaign so far with them notching up 2 victories against former champions England and Pakistan. On the other hand, though with not much to show on the points column, Netherlands have been playing some tough cricket giving stiff competition to every opponent they have faced so far and even defeating the in-form South African team.
Its still a long way to go for teams in this tournament and one would hope the trend continues.
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