South Africa v Sri Lanka, Wed 18 March, Sydney
Of the four quarter-finals, the toss for this match at the Sydney Cricket Ground looks the most crucial. South Africa, when batting first, have blown away all before them with match-winning totals of 411 for four, 408 for five, 341 for six and 339 for four in the group stage. But in their two games batting second they were bowled out for 177 and 202 by India and Pakistan respectively, and have chased only one target over 250 in the last two years.
Five of their top order have hundreds already but the lack of an all-rounder continues to upset their balance. History is not on South Africa’s side either, having only tasted defeat in World Cup knockout stages – hence the cursed “chokers” tag. Sri Lanka have the World Cup’s form batsman in Kumar Sangakkara, who will be eyeing a fifth consecutive century, but tellingly came up short against New Zealand and Australia in Pool A. They continue to worry about the fitness of Rangana Herath, who cut his spinning finger, and the captain Angelo Mathews, who left the field in their final match against Scotland with an achilles problem.
India v Bangladesh, Thur 19 March, Melbourne
As one of the two unbeaten sides from the knockout stages, India will look to turn the 100,000-capacity MCG into a sea of blue, as they did in their crushing 130-run win over South Africa three weeks ago. MS Dhoni’s defending champions have been clinical with the bat thanks to Virat Kohli’s 301 runs and the renewed form of the destructive opener Shikhar Dhawan, who has two centuries to date.
The seam bowling trio of Mohit Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami allow Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja to apply the squeeze in the middle overs – only New Zealand have conceded fewer than their 4.7 runs per over. Bangladesh are in uncharted territory with their first knockout stage appearance coming thanks to the 15-run win over hapless England. The middle-order batsman Mahmudullah has struck consecutive centuries and Rubel Hossain leads their attack along with the captain Mashrafe Mortaza, who is struggling with a calf problem. Do not bet against India extending their record run of World Cup victories to 11.
Australia v Pakistan, Fri 20 March, Adelaide
The favourites, Australia, will be wary of a Pakistan side who started slowly but have turned their campaign round by calling up the wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed and seeing him claim man of the match awards in the progress-sealing wins over South Africa and Ireland.
Michael Clarke’s side have been impressive, scoring at 7.17 runs an over – the best to date – while Mitchell Starc has been the standout bowler with 16 wickets at 8.5. But their humbling 151 all out against New Zealand, when they succumbed to Trent Boult in particular, will give fellow left-armers Wahab Riaz and Mohammad Irfan, if fit, cause for optimism. Pakistan’s batting remains the concern, with Safraz’s century in their final Pool B match their first at a World Cup since 2007. To that end the veteran right-hander Younis Khan, who scored 468 runs in two Tests against Australia last year, could return in place of Haris Sohail despite starting the tournament poorly.
New Zealand v West Indies, Sat 21 March, Wellington
Riding into the quarter-finals on a wave of feverous national support come Brendon McCullum’s co-hosts, seemingly equipped with all the attributes needed to win a World Cup – provided they have not peaked too soon.
Unbeaten in Pool A, New Zealand possess four bowlers into double figures in the wickets column, and in McCullum they have the most attacking captain in terms of tactics and batting, with his personal strike rate of 187 second only to Australia’s Glenn Maxwell.
New Zealand, along with India, are yet to concede a score over 300 in the field but in the wins over Scotland and Australia nearly came a cropper, finishing seven and nine wickets down chasing low targets. West Indies have yawned their way to the knockout stages with wins over Pakistan, Zimbabwe and UAE offset by hopeless showings against India, South Africa and Ireland.
Their young captain, Jason Holder, wrestling for control of a divided dressing room, has at least found some form with four wickets in their final match against UAE but knows the fitness of Chris Gayle, who missed that six-wicket victory with a back problem, is key. With Gayle in the side, anything is possible.
