Despite the loss of Lou Vincent, New Zealand looked formidable beating West Indies easily in their Super Eight match. We are penciling in NZ for a semi-final berth. They already have 4 points (2 from the preliminary round and 2 for beating WI) and are assured of 4 more when they play Bangladesh and Ireland. That’s 8 points and it will be enough for a semi-final berth.
Despite Shane Bond, Jacob Oram, and the steady Vettori, NZ’s strength lies in their batting depth. With Styris and McMillan in the form of their life and Jacob Oram and McCullum behind them, they have one of the strongest batting line-ups in the tournament.
Like we mentioned before, we see Sri Lanka and New Zealand as the only two teams which can beat Australia hence we are rooting for them wholeheartedly. On the other hand, West Indian batting needs to regroup. Their bowlers are doing an okay job but their batting has been below average.
Lara is not exactly setting stadiums on fire. He needs to cut out the cute shots and play like Lara we all know. Gayle is doing a Sehwag and Chanderpaul can’t seem to get out of his rut. If the big three don’t play well, West Indies ends up losing. Wait, we could have said the same thing of the Indian team. If anyone is wondering, that was not a compliment to the Windies.
We were astonished to see West Indies fall into the trap India does all the time: pack a side with batsmen and pray while bowling. How many times must we shout this: A TEAM NEEDS BOWLERS TO WIN MATCHES. The surprising thing was they dropped Jerome Taylor and picked up a very inexperienced batsman in L Simmons. Who was the genius behind that selection?
Good to know that though India is out of the tournament, its spirit lives on in the West Indian side. If they continue to play this way, Bangladesh will win two of their Super Eight matches. That will make us very happy.
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