The quarterfinals start exactly a week from now and it’s absolutely clear which four teams are going through from pool A. New Zealand, Australia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have qualified from the first pool. The Kiwis are definitely going to top the table but the rest of the teams are still fighting for their final place in pool A. However, the situation in pool B is not as straightforward. India has topped the table and will face the fourth team in pool A in their quarterfinals. Which are the next three teams to qualify for the quarters is still unclear (looking at just the points). South Africa and West Indies both have easy matches which will give them 2 points each. This means that the Proteas will be at 8 points whereas West Indies will be on 6 sharing the points with Pakistan and Ireland. Things will then come down to the match between Pakistan and Ireland. Whoever wins that match will definitely go through to the quarterfinals. The fate of the two remaining teams will then be decided by their Net Run Rate (NRR). This is the tricky part because it will depend on how the matches are won or lost. The margin by which these three teams have won or lost their matches will determine the final NRR. We will know in a week’s time which unlucky team is not going to go through because of a poor NRR. That is the situation in pool B. The last two spots are still up for grabs. Lets hope Pakistan beats Ireland on Sunday and it does not come down to the NRR for us.
–Shaan Tahir
shantahir@gmail.com