Cricket Tournaments

West Indies have scored 81 runs for the loss of two wickets againstIndiain their second innings and accumulated an overall lead of 189 runs at the end of the fourth day’s play. The third and final Test is being played at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, and is heading towards a draw.

Sachin Tendulkar Missed Century Again

Earlier Tourists scored 590 runs in their first innings which included an excellent century by Darren Bravo who smashed 166 runs.

Indiagave a solid reply to the Carribeans by scoring 281 runs in 80 overs after losing just three wickets at stumps on the third day.

Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman were unbeaten at 67 and 34 runs respectively.

All eyes were set on Tendulkar who was creeping to his 100^th hundred in International cricket.

Mumbai is his home ground and every one was thrilled in anticipation of his much awaited ton.

India lost an early wicket once Laxman was caught at gully by Marlon Samuels off Fidel Edwards at 32 runs with the addition of just six runs in the overnight total.

Virat Kohli was the next batsman to join in with Tendulkar who was doing well at the other end and looked poised to achieve the unique feat.

The master batsmen punished Edwards in the 84^th over and scored 14 runs and reached seven runs away from hundred.

Whole Wankhede Stadium was stunned and no voice could be heard from any corner on the last ball of the 87^th over as Tendulkar was caught at second slip by Darren Sammy of  Ravi Rampaul on 94 runs.

Tendulkar could not believe that but that was the truth and slowly he started walking back to the pavilion as he has to wait for some other innings to achieve the mile stone.

The 38-year-old was the fifth batsman to go back to the pavilion at the total of 322 runs and the home side was still 268 runs behind the West Indian target.

MS Dhoni was the next batsman to lose his wicket after scoring mere eight runs at the score of 331 runs.

Ravichandran Ashwin played  gem of an innings batting lower down in the order and thrashed 103 runs off 118 balls which comprised two sixes and 15 fours.

The young off spinner shared 97 runs valuable partnership with Kohli who contributed 52 runs as well.

Indian innings was folded at 482 runs in 135.4 overs and they conceded a first innings lead of 108 runs.

Rampaul and Samuels were the most successful bolwers ofWest Indiesby sharing three wickets each, Sammy claimed two wickets as Edwards and Devendra Bishoo chipped in with one wicket each.

Dhoni gave a surprise to the Carribeans by introducing left arm spinner Prayash Ojha in to attack in the very first over of the second innings.

The trick paid off as the visitors lost their opener Adrian Barath for just three runs and Kirk Edwards followed him at 30 runs at his individual score of 17 runs.

Both wickets were acquired by Ojha but Kraigg Brathwaite and Darren Bravo consolidated the innings and took the score to 81 runs at stumps, they were unbeaten at 34 and 27 runs respectively.

The Test looks like heading for a draw as just one day remains in the match and India will be pleased to win the series 2-0 as they have won Two Tests already.

‘And a tremendous win by West Indies over India.’ We used to hear about this news quite frequently during the 1980s and 90s. Defeating West Indies in their own den is even more difficult, with their fast bowlers who were harrowing the batsmen for almost 2 decades. But their performances have just been dropping since then.

Once hailed as the dominant team, nowadays aren’t even close to being one. India taking their apparent ‘A’ team, says it all. India’s series against West Indies was basically a chance for youngsters to prove themselves and a chance for India to test their bench-strength. But with West Indies struggling big time and hardly able to get their combinations right, India had a good chance to set it straight up for them. After winning 3 matches convincingly, India was already out there to prove what they have in store for the world. But the winning combination was changed in order to give everyone an equal chance, but the chance to whitewash West Indies was lost and over. Losing the last 2 ODIs, the sight wasn’t great.

HIGHS

Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Amit Mishra have been the highs of this series. Rohit Sharma pioneered Indian innings and helped India India win in a couple of matches. Averaging 128 and scoring around 257 runs in the 5 matches he played, he obviously has acknowledged many greats who have predicted him to be a future great for India. Kohli, another person who has been scoring consistently for India has had a pretty good series, but is capable of much more. Scoring 199 runs in 5 matches, he couldn’t score at all in a couple of matches as he lost out on capitalizing in the games. Parthiv Patel also gave us some solid starts in the games, and is trying to capitalize into the 2nc choice wicket-keeper place in the squad.

Among the bowlers, Amit Mishra was tremendous. Aggressive, he has always been looking for wickets. Picking up 11 wickets in the series with an exceptional economy rate of just 4, he has an awesome future to look at. Along with Harbhajan Singh, a defensive off-spinner, this leg-spinner can have a phenomenal partnership in the spin-bowling department. Munaf Patel has carried his form since the World Cup and looked good here again, picking up 8 wickets in the 3 matches he played.

LOWS

Suresh Raina was an utter disappointment. Playing rash shots, he was certainly over-burdened by the captaincy.  Making him a captain was a bad decision anyway, since he doesn’t have much experience anyways. Virat Kohli, who had the experience and certainly a good captain, could have been given the opportunity. Even Harbhajan Singh, a senior player could have had the chance to be what he ever wanted to be. Scoring just 82 runs, he certainly didn’t play to his capabilities. Even Shikhar Dhawan, lost out on a golden chance to prove his worth scoring as low as 69 runs, which included a fifty. Inconsistent performances are going to hurt. Manoj Tiwary, though didn’t get enough opportunities at the moment, but he certainly couldn’t get in through how many ever opportunities he was given.

Harbhajan Singh, being the senior-most player in the squad with his experience should have inspired the youngsters. Instead he himself wasn’t playing to his capabilities. Picking up 4 wickets in the 3 matches he played, his economy rate was good, and shows his defensiveness and the tendency to not look for the wickets. Even, Praveen Kumar was in the same league though his economy rate wasn’t as good as Bhajji’s. Even Ashwin couldn’t capitalize on the opportunities given to him. Actually he quite failed picking up just a wicket in the 2 matches he played.

WORSE

The biggest disappointment of the tour being, Subramanium Badrinath. Hailed as a great player, ignored by selectors all the time scored just 40 runs in the 4 matches he played.  Scoring well in the IPL, he lost the opportunity he was waiting for. Then why perform in the league games, if you don’t want to perform at the big stage? Nerves! Playing at the big stage is always a challenge and he needs to cope up with it. Dhoni brings out the best in him, and possibly his run tally could have been a lot better if he would have been around. Yusuf Pathan also couldn’t live up to his reputation of being a pinch-hitter and a clean striker of the ball. Poor selection of shots, he had a good opportunity to retain his place in the last ODI. When India actually needed him in the last ODI where wickets were consistently falling, he got a good start but fell for 30. Again losing out big time.

Ishant Sharma, who had a great opportunity to regain his lost glory again disappointed. Hailed as the one to put off fire in India’s fast bowling department when he actually made Ricky Ponting hop around in his crease he certainly has lost all the confidence in himself. He has to work on himself, indeed very hard.

It was a dream, but the dream just remained a dream. A whitewash and what would have been the frolic in the country. History would have been made, and how!  A golden opportunity, lost big time for the players as well as for the history to be made. Hopefully, they will create more opportunities for themselves in the near future.

This day would be remembered for two famous cricket matches in two different continents. One was in the West Indies and the other in South Africa.

The year was 2000. West Indies was playing Zimbabwe in Port of Spain, Trinidad. This was the first Test match for Jimmy Adams as West Indies captain. However, the hosts were on the verge of being humiliated as Zimbabwe needed only 99 runs to win in the second innings. But Franklyn Rose, the Windies pacer had other ideas. From 47/3, Zimbabwe collapsed sensationally to 63 all out and it was a record that for the first time a team failed to reach a double-figure target in Tests.

Three years later, India clashed with minnows Kenya in the World Cup semifinals in Durban. Kenya were having a magical run in the tournament but they had to defeat a resurgent India, if they had to play Australia in the final. This though did not happen. Sourav Ganguly had a field day. The Indian captain won the toss and elected to bat first in damp conditions. And then, he took charge and smashed an unbeaten 114-ball 111, which included 5 fours and 5 sixes. It was his second hundred in the World Cup 2003 and incidentally both of them were against Kenya. He was well backed by Sachin Tendulkar, who scored 83 and India posted a total of 270/4 after 50 overs. Kenya were never in the game as a dismal batting performance followed. Barring skipper Steve Tikolo’s fifty, none of the Kenyan batsmen showed application at the crease and as a result Kenya were bundled out for 179, giving India a comfortable 91 run victory and a shot at the World Cup for the first time since 1983.

On this day, the flamboyant South African all-rounder Nicky Boje was born as well. He was a left-arm orthodox bowler who could bat as well. His moment in the sun was when his all-round performance helped South Africa beat India in the Bangalore Test in 2000, giving his team their first Test series win in India. But soon, pandemonium was to follow as Boje was accused of match-fixing in the ODI series against India alongside captain Hansie Cronje and batsman Herschelle Gibbs. After 2003, he clinged on to a place in the national side but without much success. He retired from international cricket in 2007, before joining the unofficial Indian Cricket League. But he still remains an integral part of the Warriors team in the South African domestic competition as he was last spotted playing for them in the Champions League 2010.

Both are attacking openers and are an asset for their teams, especially in the shorter formats of the game. Chris Gayle and Virender Sehwag have so much in common that it might actually be written in a book. But the difference between both of them lies in their attitude towards the game, and this is where I dare say that Sehwag has outclassed Gayle.

Gayle has been West Indies’ lifeline especially after the retirement of Brian Lara. West Indies need to win matches, and for that Gayle has always been under the pump to fire. And he has sometimes taken the pressure in his stride or succumbed to it. He has not won enough matches for his country and the reason clearly is his reluctance to change. The fact that he is 30 now; he is the team’s senior statesman, if not captain. He is the team’s best batsman, and so he has to play the role of the ‘Mr. Dependable’, without really tinkering around with his natural game a great deal.

Gayle may have a wonderful temperament, but his callous attitude and fitness is frustrating to see. He always wants to hit the ball out of the park by the ‘stand and deliver method’. The number of times it works only can be counted on our fingers. If Gayle fails, West Indies is demoralized to a certain extent and as a result a loss lingers.

On the other hand, Sehwag is 31 but has understood the importance of his wicket at the crease with experience. Though India has a strong batting line-up, Sehwag knows that he can be win more matches for his nation if he enjoys his batting a lot more by staying at the crease for a longer period of time. And the beauty of it is that he is still considered to be a threat to any bowling attack in the world, because he is not afraid to play his natural game. He has become wiser and mature and this World Cup has given birth to a new Sehwag, which is good for Indian cricket in the long run once Sachin Tendulkar calls it a day.

Gayle’s very similar in ways to Sehwag. Both rely on hand eye coordination so why is it that Sehwag seems to be more consistent than Gayle?

The Windies dasher must introspect, indeed, a lot can be learnt from Viru’s learning’s. After all, Sehwag too was in the same phase a couple of years back when he was dropped from the team. It’s made him a much wiser man now, benefitting team India eminently.

So change works after all and it is high time for some one like Chris Gayle to learn from Virender Sehwag and become more adaptable in his batting. Maybe that is one of the reasons why he was not picked for the IPL this time around!

A look back at the first quarter final between West Indies and Pakistan gives one the feeling that the result of the game was sealed within the first half an hour itself. The early loss of Chris Gayle, soon followed by the in-form Devon Smith and exceptionally talented Darren Bravo hurt West Indies so badly that they could never recover from the shocking start. The Pakistan spinners were merciless too in their attack and the West Indies batsmen were practically at a loss for strokes as fell by the wayside one by one. While Shahid Afridi and Saeed Ajmal were brilliant in their respective spells, it was Mohammad Hafeez’s spell that was the game breaker.

Hafeez, who opened the bowling, trapped Smith and Bravo in the same over with similar deliveries in the same over and that all but clinched it for Pakistan. Although Pakistan bowled well, the West Indies too need to take a large part of the blame for some poor batting. Everyone knew that Gayle’s wicket was the big one after Darren Sammy won the toss. Being so, the dashing left-hander should have reined himself in and got his eye in before having his mandatory go at the bowling attack. Instead, he attacked the intelligence of Umar Gul and paid the price for it. Even the two batsmen that fell to Hafeez could have done a better job than hanging on to the back foot and allowing themselves to be trapped. Once the top three were gone in a flash, the Caribbeans were in a daze from which they just did not have the firepower neither the tenacity to recover.

Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul brought all their experience into play and hung around for a good part of 18 overs. Sadly, while they played up time, the runs did not come even at the pace of trickles. And so, by the time Sarwan fell trying to break the shackles, West Indies hadn’t made any kind of progress at all. Chanderpaul continued to hold on to one end, but did not find anyone for company until number 10 Kemar Roach showed some stomach for a fight. However, in between, Afridi and Ajmal had eaten into the Windies batting. Kieron Pollard failed again, as did Devon Thomas and skipper Sammy. And the one who was performing, Andre Russell, was dropped because the skipper couldn’t sit out. All this only reiterated all this wrong with West Indies cricket. Clearly, they are going nowhere in terms of progress.

For Pakistan, this game will act as a great confidence booster. This is not the kind of performance you expect from an erratic side. But the fact that they batted with equal resilience and did not give West Indian bowlers an inch proves that there is something about this Afridi-led team that is different. After his exploits with the ball, Hafeez who has been shoddy with the bat for a number of years came good with the willow too. Buoyed by his bowling success he found the sweet spot of the bat more often than not and even inspired Kamran Akmal to find his form back.

Thanks to the opening partnership, the end result was an unimaginably comprehensive win. However, while the end was sweeter than ever, it was the beginning that made it all possible.

Pakistan vs West Indies

After a month long of cricket action – mostly drab to be honest – the business end of the ICC 2011 Cricket World Cup has finally arrived. It all begins at Dhaka, Bangladesh with the clash between two teams who, on their day, can upset the best and, on an off day, can be embarrassed by the worst. Pakistan and West Indies it will be then to kick off the quarter-finals stage. This is as unpredictable as it gets and all previews and pre-match equations can be thrown out of the window in a matter of hours. Still here’s presently an attempted SWOT analysis of the two teams.

Pakistan

Strengths: One of Pakistan’s greatest strength in this tournament, something which they have been traditionally blessed with, has been their bowling. This was most evident is their historic win against the Aussies in their final league game. They have quality bowlers in both the pace and spin department. Umar Gul has been the pick of their bowlers and will be expected to lead the attack in the quarter-final as well. His nagging line and length and accurate yorkers have proved too good to handle for most opposition batsmen. Gul’s form clearly gives Pakistan an edge in the fast bowling department. While Gul has been exceptional, he has found good support in the form of Wahab Riaz in the last couple of games. Moreover, Shahid Afridi’s match-winning efforts with the ball in this tournament has made him the leading wicket-taker in the tournament so far. Nothing more needs to be said then.

Weaknesses: The obvious weakness is this Pakistan team is the same that has plagued them for ages. They are prone to crumble when put under extreme pressure and horribly at that, as seen in the game against New Zealand, where they looked all at sea when put under the hammer. If West Indies manage to put together a phase during which they hold the upper hand for a longer period of time, it would be intriguing to view how Pakistan respond. One thing is for sure, they will either come out all guns blazing or go down without a fight.

Opposition: Like Pakistan, West Indies too are unpredictable and, if they get up from the right side of the bed, Pakistan could be in trouble. Thus, the Asian giant needs to be wary of the Caribbean thunder.

Threats: The perceptible divisions in the Pakistani camp has never affected the on-field performance of the team per se. Even so, it remains a threat nonetheless. All the controversy surrounding Shoaib Akhtar and his retirement continues to make news. Questions regarding whether he will play another further part in the tournament remain. From the Pakistan team’s point of view, it would be a good thing if the management clears the air once and for all on the issue so that the players as well as the media can focus on the game. Akhtar apart, wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal, who incidentally also had a big role to play in the entire Akhtar fiasco, is also a definite threat, more than a weakness in the side. If Akmal self-destructs behind the wickets, another ‘Taylor-made’ disaster could be in the making. The good part from Akmal’s point of view is that he has got the backing of his skipper Afridi, but for how long is the question that remains to be answered. The quarter-final will possibly take us closer to the solution in store.

West Indies

Strengths: When in form, batting is definitely their strength. Left-handed opener Devon Smith has clearly been the star of the tournament with the bat for the Caribbeans. His application at the crease has impressed all. And with the explosive Chris Gayle also most likely to be fit for the quarters, West Indies will have a formidable opening pair. If Gayle can fire and Smith can anchor one end, they would form a perfect opening partnership. Here again, the ‘if’ needs to be answered. There are a couple of bright spots in the bowling department too. Kemar Roach has been on target and among the wickets as well. Like Gayle, he too is most likely to feature in the quarters against Pakistan. For sure, the Windies can’t drop Ravi Rampaul following his stirring performance against India in a losing cause. Roach and Rampaul, if they get it right, can prove to be quite a handful for the Pakistani batsmen, who have displayed a tendency to collapse under the slightest of pressure. Last but not the least, Devendra Bishoo’s leg spinners have also made significant impact as has the all-round effort of Andre Russell.

Weaknesses: Unfortunately for the West Indies, their weak points outnumber their strengths. Two of their most experienced batsmen – the lynchpins of the side over the last decade – have been going through a mighty struggle. Ramnaresh Sarwan looked helpless against both England and India as the Windies faltered while chasing gettable targets. The fluency which earmarked Sarwan as a natural talent has been visibly missing and his dogged efforts have earned his sympathy more than praise. Sarwan has at least managed to hold on to his place in the eleven. But, that is not the case with Shivnarine Chanderpaul. There was a time when a Windies batting line up minus the left-hander was unimaginable. Not anymore. Chanderpual has been struggling for a while now, and the Windies camp has been forced to drop him for the last few games and bring in fresh blood. Whether Chanderpaul gets one final shot at regaining lost glory remains to be seen.

There are issues with the bowling too. The decision to open the bowling with the left-arm spin of Sulieman Benn hasn’t quite worked against the bigger teams and has to be relooked at. The exceptionally talented Kieron Pollard continues to fall short of expectations against the Test nations. He needs to fire against Pakistan to change that perception. But, most important of all, the captain of the ship himself must deliver. There have been question marks over Darren Sammy’s position in the playing eleven itself. And being so, where will Windies look to inspiration? It’s time to deliver the goods, skipper.

Opposition: Pakistan will be buoyed by the fact that they will be playing in Dhaka, where the wicket should favour them. Being so, they already hold a distinct advantage even before the game has begun. The Pakistani spinners will play a big role in the match and how the Windies handle them could be a major deciding factor.

Threats: Like Pakistan, even West Indies face a major threat due to their own ability to self-destruct. Another England or India-like collapse and they could soon be packing their bags for home.

The final league match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 between India and West Indies was symptomatic of the problems both teams have been having continuously in the tournament. While India did manage to pull off a win, their batting collapse yet again reiterated that all is not well on the batting front as of now. Okay, it was a slightly improved effort from M S Dhoni and co, but far from enough to inspire confidence going into the knock out clash. On the other hand, the West Indies, like in the game against England, succumbed under self-created pressure and lost a match they should have won hands down. And even though both teams have qualified for the next round, the signs aren’t great as of now unless they really pull up their socks. The only positive for both teams, if one can call it so, is that their opponents Australia and Pakistan have problems of their own and thus aren’t at the top of their game either.

No lessons learnt?

In the game against England, India folded up for 338 after looking good for a score well above 350. Against South Africa, they could have touched 400 had they been somewhat judicious. And then versus West Indies on Sunday, they looked set for 300 plus, but fell well short once again. On all three occasions, India messed it up in the power play, raising serious questions as to whether they have learnt from their mistakes. True, as Dhoni said in jest after the game against West Indies, there was a slight improvement. However, it is far from enough to inspire confidence in the team. Of course on all three occasions, the opposition found a great spell from one of their premier bowlers. If Tim Bresnan did it for England, Dale Steyn was hot for South Africa and Ravi Rampaul was the man for West Indies. On all three cases, the bowler in question ended up with five wicket hauls. However, while the bowlers deserve credit for the same, it has been more a case of poor batting by the Indians, which needs to be sorted out very soon, as early as the next game else it could be all over for the home team at Ahmedabad.

What India need is for one of the set batsmen to bat through, which is what hasn’t been happening. Against England and South Africa, Sachin Tendulkar fell in the power play overs after completing his century whilst in the match against the Caribbeans, centurion Yuvraj Singh departed one ball before the start of it. On all three occasions, India suffered a collapse and, on two of three occasions, it almost cost them the game. South Africa were the only team good enough to capitalise on India’s weakness. And even if Australia went down to Pakistan, they would be do the same against India in the quarter finals on Thursday. The Indians will not get another opportunity then so they better beware.

Ashwin situation

At long last, Dhoni gave his Chennai Super Kings mate, Ravichandran Ashwin a go and the off spinner did not disappoint. Like in the premier T20 league, he opened the bowling and troubled the West Indies batsmen. On the little evidence on offer so far and the confidence the country and experts have in him, he is definitely a better choice as compared to Piyush Chawla, who has clearly struggled since impressing in the warm up game against Australia. Having said that, it would be too early to judge him on one performance considering the fact that it came against a weakened West Indies batting line up, minus the likes of Chris Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul. Even so, it was an impressive effort nonetheless by the Chennai super star, particularly with the knockouts coming up. The effort against West Indies should inspire confidence in Ashwin. He would have been under a lot of pressure following the frenetic roars for his inclusion in the team ahead of Chawla. If picked for the game against Australia, Ashwin could even end up being India’s trump card considering the fact that the Aussies haven’t seen much of him. That said, the task for Ashwin would be that much difficult against the Aussies considering that they are a much better team as compared to the West Indies side.

Windies’ inexplicable collapse

While India managed to find a few answers to some of their tough questions, the Windies once again fell short when they should have gone all the way. Even as the Windies decline has been steady over the years, there has been one chief reason for their poor performance in the ongoing World Cup, and that has been their inability to build partnerships in the middle-order. Opener Devon Smith has done exceedingly well in the tournament, but the others have let him down in a big way. It hasn’t helped that Chanderpaul has not been at his best for some time now. So bad has been his form that the Windies camp have had to ‘rest’ him for a couple of games now. And that isn’t great signs for the team.

The one man who has symbolised West Indies’ woes with the bat has been the other highly experienced batsman in the team – Ramnaresh Sarwan. In both the games against England and India, he got stuck at one end, nothing getting into any rhythm at all. It has been an absolutely sad sight to see a man of such class and talent struggling on the big stage. Sarwan’s struggle only emphasises that there is so much wrong with cricket in the West Indies. Not long ago, he and Gayle were out of the side following the never ending dispute between the cricket board and the players. And ever since he has comeback, he hasn’t looked the same. The fluency has disappeared, he is struggling even to rotate the strike. Of course, he can’t be the only one to be blamed for West Indies’ downslide in the series. But, his struggles clearly mirror those of the team. In his defence, unlike the others, Sarwan at least made an effort to hang in there. But, he found no support at all. And when he tried to hit out, he wasn’t good enough to succeed. It’s really sad to see someone with the talent of Sarwan to struggle in such an obvious manner.

As both India and West Indies head into their quarter final clash, they will have to answer most of the questions raised above. The failure to do so could end their World Cup hopes in a jiffy. Will India and West Indies rise to the occasion? Wednesday and Thursday will provide the answers.

In a scintillating chase which swayed all through, South Africa snuck through, holding their nerve as they beat India in a close tie at Nagpur. Group B gets increasingly interesting with each match making it harder to predict the 3rd and the 4th spots leading into the knock outs. After a thwarting defeat against the West Indies at home, the Bangladeshis looked all but out. But, a fabulous turn around against the English has ensured they too are in with a chance for the quarters. England looked scathy in that encounter and Strauss and co need another “comeback” to stand a chance of going any further this World cup.  
Despite India’s loss to South Africa last evening, nothing has really changed as far as those two teams are concerned and they should make it through to the quarters comfortably. West Indies meanwhile are on an uphill, a solitary win against England or India would see them through as well. Even if they go on to lose both their remaining fixtures, a high NRR (Net Run Rate) serves them in good stead as they look likely to progress to the next round.

India, are currently leading the pack and are cruising their way into the knockouts. Netherlands, despite an impressive start stand no chance this World cup and must improve considerably if they want to make another World cup appearance. Ireland on the other hand, have played laudable cricket but still find themselves in a precarious position. However, they still do stand the tiniest of chances of going through. For that to happen, the Irish have to win and win with huge margins against both South Africa and Netherlands. Despite this, England and West Indies’s results need to go in their favour too. Highly unlikely, I would say.
The real race is between England and Bangladesh. England are a point ahead but are a match short and a win for England still may not do the trick for them, theoretically at least.
Theoretically speaking, even India, West Indies and South Africa may miss out. Here’s how:

How can India be eliminated?
Albeit only in theory, this indeed is a possibility. For this to happen, WI must down India, England must beat WI (with a big margin), Bangladesh must beat RSA, RSA must beat Ireland and Bangladesh must beat the Netherlands.
With this, the WI will top the group with 8 points followed by Bangladesh and South Africa with 8 each and England with 7 (Higher NRR than India).
Only in theory, nevertheless, cricket’s a funny game.

How can West Indies be eliminated?
Not many would have even thought that the West Indies would progress to the 2nd round of the World cup but an impressive couple of weeks and a few star performances has made this happen.
The WI should qualify to the next round but again, could be eliminated. For this to happen, India must beat WI, England must beat WI, Bangladesh must down South Africa and Bangladesh must beat Netherlands.
With this, India will top the group with 9 points, followed by South Africa and Bangladesh at 8 points each and England with 7 points.
The way WI cricket has gone over the past decade, this sure is a possibility.

How can South Africa be eliminated?
One of the favourites to lift the trophy, South Africa too might find themselves out before the knockouts.
For this to happen, WI must beat India, England must beat WI, Bangladesh must beat South Africa, Ireland too must beat South Africa and Bangladesh must beat the Netherlands.
With this, the Windies and Bangladesh will end up with 8 points, closely followed by India and England at 7.
This seems highly unlikely as South Africa must lose to Ireland. Nevertheless, K O’Brien may just have different ideas.

How can England be eliminated?
England after a huge Ashes win have failed to discover form in the One day format. A loss to WI might spell doom for the English
However, a win would not guarantee them a spot either as if India may end up with a better NRR or more points if they beat WI.
Spots are up for grabs. All the action is happening in Group B. The quarter finalists from Group A is a no brainer. I would still have my money on England making the last 4 (from B) with India, RSA and Windies filling up the rest.
Nevertheless, an interesting week lies ahead and England and Ireland will be hoping a lot of other results go their way too.