World Cup 2023 Semi-finals Scenarios: The pressure has started getting to former champions. Surprisingly tournament favourites like Australia and England started their campaign on a sticky wicket. Pakistan made a winning start but floundered in the all-important game. Sri Lanka for all their effort continues to remain winless after 3 games.
There are 5 teams in this tournament who have won the World Cup previously. Two out of them have won just one game so far, one is yet to even win one, while one of them suffered a loss in their third game.
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World Cup 2023 Semi-finals Scenarios Who among these teams can make it to the last four?
#4 Sri Lanka
The Sri Lankan team was on a record-breaking spree just a month ago. They had stitched an unbeaten streak until it was broken in the Asia Cup. Injuries to key players have put them on the back foot. The absence of Wanindu Hasaranga and Dushmantha Chameera has robbed the team of any bowling experience.
Despite Kusal Mendis’ brilliance in the first two games, the inept performance of the bowlers saw them lose games at a canter. Sri Lanka made a solid start to their game against Australia. But a shocking collapse saw them squander the advantage. With 3 losses in 3 games, things look bleak for Sri Lanka to make it to the top 4.
#3 England
The England team walked into the tournament with their confidence bordering on arrogance. They got an early wake-up call when they lost their opening game against New Zealand. England pulled one back against Bangladesh hinting at a return to normalcy. They would have expected an easy outing against Afghanistan at Delhi. England opted to field first. Afghanistan kept punching above their weight right from ball one.
They scored a competitive 285 on a track that appeared two-paced. Afghanistan bowling fired in unison to leave England in tatters. The English side has now won just one of their three games. They will come up against South Africa in the next match. The ‘defending’ champions are already in do-or-die territory.
#2 Pakistan
The 1992 World Cup champions made a good start winning both their games. Pakistan’s win came against the Netherlands and Sri Lanka, two teams who made it through the qualifiers. There was an undercurrent of doubt though regarding their performance against better-ranked teams. The worst nightmares of Pakistani fans came true in the game against India. After being in a position of dictating the game, they lost their way completely. They still have 4 points to their name but have tough fixtures lined up ahead. It will be interesting to see if Pakistan can make it to the final four.
#1 Australia
Nothing seemed to be going right for the Australian team in the first 2 games. They still had their moments in the opening game against India. But the famed Australian ruthlessness was missing. They couldn’t build on to a strong base and later failed to deliver telling blows on the field. It got worse for them in the second game when a terrific South African team outplayed Australia. The 5-time champions dropped 6 catches and looked at sea against the moving ball.
Australia needed to pick themselves up and return to winning ways sooner rather than later. The most successful World Cup team did just in the game against Sri Lanka. After being toothless for the first 20 overs of Lankan batting, Australia put the spark back into the World Cup. They bowled Lanka out for just 209 and won the game comfortably in the end. Australia’s next game is against Pakistan. This match may well prove to be the deciding one in the overall context of the tournament.
