The cricket world cup started with hosts England thumping South Africa in world cup opener with a massive margin of 104 runs to start their world cup campaign on a high. The world cup got underway on May 30 and will conclude on July 14, with the finals at the iconic Lord’s in London.
England are the firm favourites to lift the trophy, however some experts claim India to be a force to reckon with alongside Australia who are high in confidence after pipping India 3-2 in India and clean sweeping Pakistan 5-0 in United Arab Emirates(UAE). The returning Steve Smith and David Warner will add more strength to the team.
Misbah-ul-Haq predicts the semi-finalists
The former Pakistani International led the national team in 2015 world cup and took them to the quarter final stage where they lost to eventual winners Australia. The 45-year-old opined that hosts England, world ranked 2 in ODI rankings- India and defending champions Australia will make it to the last four of the show piece event.
2017 Champions trophy champions- Pakistan have lost 12 matches on a trot after West Indies thumped them by 7 wickets in their world cup opener at Trent Bridge in Nottingham. Pakistan batsman were exposed to the short balls and they were bundled out for 105 runs in the first innings. However, Misbah feels that Pakistan will be the fourth team to make it to last four of the show piece event
Batsman to watch out for
Misbah predicted that English batsman Jason Roy will make this world cup his own and be amongst the runs. Roy opened the batting for England in their opening clash against South Africa and scored 54 runs off 53 balls.
