Except for the West Indies and England, the other six teams in the ICC Cricket World Cup have won 4 of the 6 matches they have played. The top teams look good, and their wins have been as convincing as their surprise losses.

The top two teams in the group stage, Pakistan and South Africa, have relatively easier opponents in the form of West Indies and New Zealand and by the looks of it, two of the four semi-final places already look booked. Shahid Afridi has been having a wonderful time on the ball and the biggest wicket-taker of 2011 CWC would like to usher in a new chapter in Pakistani cricket by emulating the 1992 campaign of the other famous Pathan Imran Khan.

The South Africans have always been favorites and chokers who simply lose their way half way through and it goes without saying that they have the will, determination and talent to end their drought. The other four have their homework cut out – play like never before!

Like every major tournament it plays, India, this time too, almost went crazy calculating odds, net run rate and all sorts of stats while preparing for the final league match against West Indies. With India, the ‘what if’ factor seems to be more at play than anything else. After seeing the team play the way it did in the league stage, the think tank doesn’t seem to care about obvious weaknesses like lackluster bowling and sudden hitting collapses. Or is it that those who watch the game from the outside are giving it too much importance?

While England may not seem as dominant as Sri Lanka at first glance, this English side nonetheless has the tenacity to hang on. As in the match against India that ended in a draw, the English team showed a willingness to chase big totals and it is no surprise that two Englishmen, Jonathan Trott and Andrew Strauss, are among the top three batsmen in this World Cup.

Sri Lanka, on the other hand, features the tournament’s best batsmen in the form of Kumar Sangakkara; they are also the team with the best run rate (+2.5) from their six games. This is the closest the English side have come to a possible chance of winning the World Cup and they won’t give up that easily, but with home advantage, Sri Lanka might want to repeat 1996.

India could have made an appointment with New Zealand instead of its neighbor Australia. A pale shadow of its former self, Australia have won the last three World Cups on the trot and cannot be taken lightly. Ricky Ponting hasn’t had the best of the World Cup, but he could find his nickname in time. On paper, India looks like a better team, but in the end the host nation came close to a victory. It’s a good thing Indian bowling looks as aimless as the Australian first order; Think what would have happened on March 24 if Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer were still playing! Brett Lee caused Pakistan problems in their last league match and although the Aussie lost, Lee impressed with some really tight bowling.

India will once again have to rely on their legendary batting line-up and with Virender Sehwag fit for the match, Ashwin impressing against the West Indies, the team will have eliminated either Suresh Raina or Yusuf Pathan. Also, when they take on Australia, Ricky Ponting could put a damper on India’s No. 12 weapon.

At this stage it is only the result that will decide the course of action. No more calculations and combination-permutation of who would play who if they lost, etc. the plan must be very clear: play to win!

March 23: Pakistan v West Indies, Dhaka:
March 24: India v Australia, Ahmedabad
March 25: New Zealand vs South Africa, Dhaka
March 26: Sri Lanka v England, Colombo