World Cup 2019: Ranking the semi-finalists according to their chances of winning the tournament
The league stage of the 2019 World Cup was a thriller as the fight to qualify for the knockouts went down to the wire. While India and Australia booked their tickets to the semi-finals well in advance, the others had to fight harder to book their berths for the knockouts.
In the last week of the league phase, England, New Zealand, Pakistan, and Bangladesh were all in contention for the last two spots. Bangladesh was eliminated from the tournament after a defeat against India. England won their last two matches to qualify for the knockouts and they effectively eliminated Pakistan in the process.
Even in the last day of the league phase, the final placings were left to be decided. India registered a convincing win over Sri Lanka, to finish at the top of the standings, while Australia's loss against South Africa placed them at second place. Now let us look at the chances of the four semi-finalists of winning the World Cup.
#4 New Zealand
The Kiwis were fortunate to get some easy fixtures early in the tournament. The Black Caps won five of their first six games, while their match against India was abandoned due to rain. New Zealand seemed certain to qualify for the knockouts as they had collected 11 points in the first six matches.
Then Kane Williamson's men lost three matches in a row against Pakistan, Australia, and England to find themselves in trouble. Eventually, they were able to qualify to knockouts, thanks to their superior net run rate over Pakistan. The 2015 runners-up seemed to have lost both form and momentum ahead of the semi-finals which can hurt their chances of winning the tournament.
They finished fourth in the group stage, which means that they would have to face in-form India now. The odds are heavily stacked against Kiwis but they do have some match-winners in the form of Williamson and Trent Boult, who can make the difference on any given day.
Also read – World cup winners list