Day two of the CWC 2015 is about the neighbours fighting it out or if we may use the word Darby. Find below my attempt to analyse what would be the team composition and mood in the camp.
South Africa v Zimbabwe
Like any other world cup in the past, South Africa is favourite this time too. Proteas are the more successful among the neighbours be it head-to-head or otherwise. There is hardly any doubt that Proteas are more resourceful as well. But their neighbours will not be short in terms of spirits. Coming up with a victory against a seasoned Sri Lanka, Zimbabweans will definitely be high on confidence. They had even Kiwis against the wall at 157/7 in 30 overs when rain intervened in the warm-up game. Thus on their day, they have the potential to inflict an upset.
Zimbabwe cannot boast high of their recent form in the ODIs. They lost 0-5 against Bangladesh as recently as November 2014. They won only one game against Australia in the tri nation series (third team being South Africa). Even against South Africa, they have lost all the five matches in the recent past. All this will play on their mind. David Whatmore is their coach, who knows a lot about facing power houses with limited resources. Hamilton Masakadza's century against Sri Lanka will be a big morale boost. Together with Brendon Taylor, are the most experienced batsmen. They have two good all rounders in Sean Williams and Craig Ervine who also provide solidity to the middle order. Tinashe Panyangara is among wickets and will lead the attack. Tawanda Mupariwa, Prosper Utseya and Tendai Chatara are other bowling options.
South Africa has resources that any team would envy, yet they are vulnerable in their own way. They may not be facing the toughest opposition tomorrow, but they cannot afford to be complacent when they have other 'tags' to get rid off. South Africa is coming here with a 4-1 win against the West Indies, so they are in the habit of winning. Skipper AB de Villiers is arguably one of the most accomplished player of the modern era. They have a very destructive opening pair who compliment each other very well. They have the most formidable middle order in JP, Faf, AB and David Miller. Even without Steyn 100%, Morkel and Philander are bowlers that any opposition would fear. Farhaan Behardien and Dale Steyn may not start tomorrow as they are still recovering from the injury.
India v Pakistan
Pakistan team may not lack talent but they do lack experience. Their skipper Misbah-ul-Haq, Younis Khan and Shahid Afridi are the most experienced of the lot and then there is a huge gap in terms of experience. Their pace attack looks blunt without the services of Umar Gul and Junaid Khan. Tall Mohammad Irfan could prove to be an X factor on these conditions and Wahab Riaz who took 5 wickets in the last CWC encounter between the two teams could be nippy. Shahid Afridi has to shoulder the spin department and they have young leg spinner Yasir Shah who could trouble any batting line up. Their opening looks unsettled but Misbah, Younis and Umar in the middle order provide some stability with Shahid providing a late burst.
Indian team as usual, looks good on paper but when enters the field of play looks vulnerable. Rohit Sharma has a recent ton to back himself and it seemed Shikhar is also finding his rhythm. Ajinkya provides solidity to the middle order. In spite of Virat's recent failure India heavily relies on him to perform and as a player he likes stages like this to motivate himself. Suresh Raina's form with bat is a concern and MS Dhoni with his captaincy alone could be the difference. Two of the three spinners (Ashwin, Axar and Ravinder) may play . Similarly in pace department, Mohammad Shami and Umesh Yadav seems to be the front runner, however Mohit Sharma also has a fair chance. Indian team has been practicing with stools at the nets to to simulate the steep bounce generated by lanky Mohammad Irfan. The spinner Yasir Shah could also pose some problem as Indians have never played him before. MS Dhoni has freely admitted that his team has a longer tail than he would like. This could be a real problem.
India will be facing Pakistan in a world cup match for the first time without Sachin. Sachin has played a crucial role in all the matches between the two teams in the past. If the record in CWC for Pakistan against India is abysmal, it could derive motivation from the fact that they were victorious when last these two sides met in an ODI, at the Asia Cup in Dhaka a little less than a year ago.
South Africa v Zimbabwe
Like any other world cup in the past, South Africa is favourite this time too. Proteas are the more successful among the neighbours be it head-to-head or otherwise. There is hardly any doubt that Proteas are more resourceful as well. But their neighbours will not be short in terms of spirits. Coming up with a victory against a seasoned Sri Lanka, Zimbabweans will definitely be high on confidence. They had even Kiwis against the wall at 157/7 in 30 overs when rain intervened in the warm-up game. Thus on their day, they have the potential to inflict an upset.
Zimbabwe cannot boast high of their recent form in the ODIs. They lost 0-5 against Bangladesh as recently as November 2014. They won only one game against Australia in the tri nation series (third team being South Africa). Even against South Africa, they have lost all the five matches in the recent past. All this will play on their mind. David Whatmore is their coach, who knows a lot about facing power houses with limited resources. Hamilton Masakadza's century against Sri Lanka will be a big morale boost. Together with Brendon Taylor, are the most experienced batsmen. They have two good all rounders in Sean Williams and Craig Ervine who also provide solidity to the middle order. Tinashe Panyangara is among wickets and will lead the attack. Tawanda Mupariwa, Prosper Utseya and Tendai Chatara are other bowling options.
South Africa has resources that any team would envy, yet they are vulnerable in their own way. They may not be facing the toughest opposition tomorrow, but they cannot afford to be complacent when they have other 'tags' to get rid off. South Africa is coming here with a 4-1 win against the West Indies, so they are in the habit of winning. Skipper AB de Villiers is arguably one of the most accomplished player of the modern era. They have a very destructive opening pair who compliment each other very well. They have the most formidable middle order in JP, Faf, AB and David Miller. Even without Steyn 100%, Morkel and Philander are bowlers that any opposition would fear. Farhaan Behardien and Dale Steyn may not start tomorrow as they are still recovering from the injury.
India v Pakistan
Pakistan team may not lack talent but they do lack experience. Their skipper Misbah-ul-Haq, Younis Khan and Shahid Afridi are the most experienced of the lot and then there is a huge gap in terms of experience. Their pace attack looks blunt without the services of Umar Gul and Junaid Khan. Tall Mohammad Irfan could prove to be an X factor on these conditions and Wahab Riaz who took 5 wickets in the last CWC encounter between the two teams could be nippy. Shahid Afridi has to shoulder the spin department and they have young leg spinner Yasir Shah who could trouble any batting line up. Their opening looks unsettled but Misbah, Younis and Umar in the middle order provide some stability with Shahid providing a late burst.
Indian team as usual, looks good on paper but when enters the field of play looks vulnerable. Rohit Sharma has a recent ton to back himself and it seemed Shikhar is also finding his rhythm. Ajinkya provides solidity to the middle order. In spite of Virat's recent failure India heavily relies on him to perform and as a player he likes stages like this to motivate himself. Suresh Raina's form with bat is a concern and MS Dhoni with his captaincy alone could be the difference. Two of the three spinners (Ashwin, Axar and Ravinder) may play . Similarly in pace department, Mohammad Shami and Umesh Yadav seems to be the front runner, however Mohit Sharma also has a fair chance. Indian team has been practicing with stools at the nets to to simulate the steep bounce generated by lanky Mohammad Irfan. The spinner Yasir Shah could also pose some problem as Indians have never played him before. MS Dhoni has freely admitted that his team has a longer tail than he would like. This could be a real problem.
India will be facing Pakistan in a world cup match for the first time without Sachin. Sachin has played a crucial role in all the matches between the two teams in the past. If the record in CWC for Pakistan against India is abysmal, it could derive motivation from the fact that they were victorious when last these two sides met in an ODI, at the Asia Cup in Dhaka a little less than a year ago.
Traditionally it has always been Pakistani bowling against Indian batting. At this moment Pakistan's bowling looks inexperienced and Indian batting vulnerable. The contest more or less looks like the battle of equals. More than skills it will be the temperament that would be tested. But overall it seems India will start as favourite.
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