The Cricket World Cup is now only a couple of weeks away and the teams are about mid-way through their preparation series so it’s a good time to have a look to see how teams are shaping up. All 3 of the series I wrote about in my Cricket World Cup Preparations post are poised interestingly with some developments worth noting.
1. South Africa vs Australia
The best of 5 Series Score stands at 2-1 to Australia after the Aussies won the first 2 games convincingly the 3rd game swung hard the other way. Notably all 3 games have been lopsided results. Both sides seem to be experimenting with different bowlers a lot but it’s the spinners I am keeping an eye out for. Adam Zampa looks in good form for Australia and Tabraiz Shamsi could be one to keep an eye on for South Africa – he's picked up 6 wickets across the last 2 games.
2. England vs New Zealand
The best of 4 ODI Series Score stands at 1-1 with 2 more very lopsided results. The 2nd match was rain affected but I have found these matches to be a bit disappointing from a World Cup Preparation perspective as we haven’t really seen any conditions conducive to spin. That’s fine if the Indians serve up flat tracks for the fast bowlers to toil on, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. This series looks a bit like a missed opportunity so far.
3. The Asia Cup
This ODI tournament is already very well progressed and is now late into the Super Four stage. India has been totally dominant in typical sub-continent conditions. They’ve had 2 matches against Pakistan with one wash-out and 1 comprehensive victory. Pakistan and Sri Lanka have a match tomorrow which will likely determine who will meet India in the final. In this tournament the spinners have been very dominant. In the India vs Sri Lanka game at Colombo yesterday 16 out of 20 wickets fell to spinners so I remain convinced that this tournament is excellent World Cup preparation for the Asian Teams. If Pakistan can get over Sri Lanka and meet India in the Final it should be a cracking match to finish the Tournament. If you only watch one game of cricket this month, the Asia Cup Final is the one to see.
Overall I think India is looking very strong and will be entitled to be very firm favorites for the World Cup playing at Home. Australia might be dangerous if they can settle on a bowling unit combination with 2 form spinners but I expect them to start the tournament slowly and have batsmen vulnerable to the other Asian teams early. Pakistan look like they are going to be mercurial and unpredictable once again but they are still my early dark horse selection.
