Final countdowns

Three more matches to go and it is turning out to be a definitive sub-continent tournament – the Kiwis being the outcast here! Well, here are the overall performance score as per Castrol Index:

 

Ranking	Teams	Performance Score
1	South Africa	180
2	Sri Lanka	177
3	Australia	170
4	New Zealand	154
5	India	153
6	Pakistan	150
7	England	140
8	West Indies	130
9	Ireland	93
10	Zimbabwe	81
11	Bangladesh	65
12	Canada	63
13	Netherlands	62
14	Kenya	46

South Africa were tagged as chokers, seemed to be high contenders and possible winners this World Cup. But as luck would have it, they lost out to New Zealand in the Quarters and headed back home. Even before the knock-out rounds, the team standings ranked SA in the top in Group B. 

Ranking	Group A	P	W	L	Pts	Castrol Index
1	Pakistan	6	5	1	10	149
2	Sri Lanka	6	4	1	9	179
3	Australia	6	4	1	9	177
4	New Zealand	6	4	2	8	154
5	Zimbabwe	6	2	4	4	121
6	Canada	6	1	5	2	94
7	Kenya	6	0	6	0	68

Ranking	Group B	P	W	L	Pts	Castrol Index
1	South Africa	6	5	1	10	190
2	India	6	4	1	9	159
3	England	6	3	2	7	153
4	West Indies	6	3	3	6	154
5	Bangladesh	6	3	3	6	98
6	Ireland	6	2	4	4	139
7	Netherlands	6	0	6	0	92

Tough luck for England as well. After winning the ICC World T20 last year, England also retained the Ashes in Australia and the team will arguably remain competitive for quite some years. The team that played unconventionally poorly was West Indies, somehow World Cup deserved a better performance from them.

The semi-finals are round the corner. Predictions, as well as anticipations, are rife. May the best of the lot hold the cup high!