Three of the four semi-finalists are locked in: India, England and Bangladesh. India booked their place with a romping win over South Africa in London, and go into the knockouts surely the favorites. They will more than likely win the group, and therefore would face Bangladesh in the semi-finals and then the winner of the England vs Sri Lanka/Pakistan in the final. It’s set up well for them, and if it can’t be England, I wouldn’t mind it being India.
Or Pakistan. Or Sri Lanka. Yeah I think I will be happy no matter who takes home the trophy, all four squads play fun and interesting cricket and none of them are Australia, haha.
I am curious if there are rain days scheduled for any of the upcoming knockout stage matches, but being that this is cricket and considering the final is on a Sunday, I am guessing not. The weather is looking good in Cardiff on Wednesday for the first semi-final, but there’s rain in the forecast for Thursday’s second semi-final in Birmingham, which would be a shame if the rain cost us a result. I mean, there HAS to be a result, so maybe they would play on Friday if they can’t get their overs in.
It’s still a week out but the forecast for London the day of the final is rain free so at least we have that going for us. And here’s hoping England is just getting this out of their system and will be warm and dry once the Tests against South Africa start up next month. Speaking of that tour, it appears those matches will be on ESPN3.com, at least the T20s are. There’s no sign of the tests yet, but here’s hoping that changes soon.
Looking past the South Africa tests, the West Indies travel to England for three Tests, five ODIs and a T20 on a tour of England and Ireland that lasts deep into September. Following that of course England travel down under for the Ashes (and more). So, lots of great cricket to come after this tournament. Interestingly, no southeast Asian sides (save Bangladesh which travel to South Africa) have any tours on the immediate calendar. I might be missing something, but it certainly looks pretty quiet for those sides.
I am getting ahead of myself. Tomorrow’s yet another quarterfinal, and should be an entertaining one. I sure wish I could watch but oh well, it’s a workday anyway. Until then.
Limited Overs 