GROUP STAGE DONE AND DUSTED - IT'S KNOCKOUT TIME

The Cricket World Cup 2015 Down-Under in now a month old. For a month, 14 teams battled out in the two pools. And now we have the 8 teams that have made it to the business end of the tournament.

Bangladesh have been the surprise package of the tournament so far. They have shown England their way back home and are the fourth team to qualify from Pool A. They have played exceptional cricket in this tournament and perhaps have their best bowling line-up ever. The batting too has clicked with all the batsmen contributing particularly Mahmudullah, who has registered two successive tons against England and New Zealand respectively.

Let us quickly go through the group games in the second half of the group stages in the Cricket World Cup 2015.

South Africa played Ireland on 2nd March at Canberra. The South African batsmen put up a huge score of 411 for the loss of 4 wickets. Hashim Amla and Faf Du Plessis registered tons. In reply, the Irish were bowled out for 210 in 45 overs. Hashim Amla was the Player of the Match for his score of 159 of just 128 balls. It was a record of sorts since it was the first time in World Cup Cricket history that a team had put up a score in excess of 400 in consecutive games.

Australia played associates Afghanistan at the WACA two days later. Another record of World Cup cricket was set in this game. Batting first, the Australians scored a massive 417 for the loss of 6 wickets. David Warner scored a swashbuckling 178 of just 133 balls. Steve Smith missed his 100 by just 5 runs while Glenn Maxwell just does not know the singles and twos exist and always clears the ropes. He smashed 7 6s in his knock of 88 of just 39 balls. 

Afghanistan, in reply, were bowled out for 142 in 37.3 overs. Fiery Mitch Johnson picked up 4 wickets. Australia registered the highest team total in World Cup cricket, beating the previous 413 set by India set in 2007 against Bermuda.

Bangladesh played England at the Adelaide Oval on March 9. It was a kind of a pre-quarter final game for both the teams. The winners would go through. England were under pressure and Bangladesh were high on confidence. Bangladesh batted first and registered 275-7 in 50 overs, a competitive total. Mahmudullah registered his second consecutive ton of the tournament. The English batsmen had their task cut out. Bangladesh chipped away at the wickets at regular intervals and bowled out the English batsmen for 260 in 48.3 overs. Bangladesh pulled off their greatest victory. It was a historic day for Bangladesh cricket. They sent England packing out of the tournament and booked a place in the quarters.

The group stage came to an end today with Pakistan getting the better of Ireland by 3 wickets. The Irish played very good cricket throughout the tournament however, perhaps fell short off pace this time around. They could not replicate their dream win against Pakistan 8 years back but they did pitch a strong voice for all the Associate Member nations.

The Group stage of Cricket World Cup 2015 has finally come to an end. It has been very interesting. New records have been set and a few new players have come ahead. The tournament is nicely set up for the quarter-finals. The knockout stage of this competition is going to be a treat to watch surely.

Ø  The Quarter-Final Games:

Date	Competition	Venue
March 18	Sri Lanka v/s South Africa	SCG, Sydney
March 19	Bangladesh v/s India	MCG, Melbourne
March 20	Australia v/s Pakistan	Adelaide Oval
March 21	New Zealand v/s West Indies	Westpac, Wellington