In the 12th World Cup, a total of 35 matches have been played till Friday with a total of 10 matches left to be played in the group stage. The ongoing World Cup is played in the round robin format, each team is playing each other once in the league stage and the teams in the top four in the points table will play the semi-finals.
At the moment, Australia has qualified for the semi-finals with 14 points and the faith of three other teams will be decided soon. There are three teams that are completely out of the semi-final race. So let’s know about those three teams.
1- Afghanistan
Afghanistan was the first team to be out of the semi-final race. The Afghan team had started well by defeating Pakistan in a practice match but they didn’t do justice with their talent in the group stage clash and have lost eight matches on a trot. Now they will face an uphill task against West Indies in their last clash.
2- South Africa
After injury to their big players, South Africa’s team got weak and could not perform according to their reputation of being a favourite in almost every world cup from 1992. The African team, captained by Faf du Plessis, became the second team to bow out of the semifinals race. They have played 8 matches and managed to win on 2 occasions, 5 loses and 1 match was called off due to rain. The team will be up against a strong Australia in their last clash of the world cup.
3- West Indies
At the beginning of the tournament, the West Indies team pipped Pakistan in a one sided encounter to become the pre-tournament favourites to qualify for the semi-finals. However their inconsistent run didn’t help their cause and they moved down the points table. The Caribbean team also got out of the semifinals race after losing to India on Thursday. Due to lackluster performance by the batsman and inconsistent run by the bowlers, West Indies have only managed to eke out 1 win, 5 loses and 1 match was called off due to rain. They will next face Sri Lanka and Afghanistan.
Other teams who can qualify for the semi-finals
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka’s chances to qualify for the semi-finals looks bleak after their defeat to South Africa by 9 wickets in Durham. They will have to win their last two encounters against West Indies and India and hope that Pakistan and Bangladesh win only one game or lose both the games and England lose both their games against India and New Zealand.
Sri Lanka is currently at 7th position in the table with 6 points in seven games with a net run rate of -1.186.
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