As Week 3 comes to an end, the tournament is becoming intriguing. Not only have Ireland and Bangladesh stirred things up, but also none of the favourites are stamping any consistent authority on the others. It's not just England who are up and down faster than a demented yo-yo, but India, South Africa and Sri Lanka are also struggling to impose themselves in their respective groups. The latter were unfortunate in that their big clash with Australia was abandoned because of the weather, and the battle between the former two yesterday could have gone either way.
While all the drama has been played out this week, Australia could only watch and wait. The schedule meant they had no fixtures between the 5th and 13th and with the Sri Lanka no-result, it's been more than a fortnight since we last had the chance to assess their form. With victory over Kenya pretty much assured, the reigning champions could well come from behind and win Group A, although Pakistan still stand in their way. If New Zealand complete their win over Canada today, a win over Sri Lanka would place them either first or second.
One thing's pretty certain: the top four ranked teams in Group A will all qualify for he quarter-finals. However, the situation in Group B is less clear-cut thanks to Bangladesh's brilliant battling against England a few days ago. Suddenly Andrew Strauss's side looks vulnerable. Provided Shakib's men overcome the Dutch, England would then have to beat the West Indies just to avoid an early plane home. Mind you, the way the English have been whingeing about being away too long, perhaps that's what they secretly crave. If England do win, then the run-in throws up a few alarming (or exciting, whichever way you want to look at it!) possibilities. If South Africa and Netherlands both succumb to Bangladesh, then the very last group stage fixture, between India and the West Indies could see the loser of the game being eliminated from the whole competition. And India's demise would be a disaster for the organisers, especially since the whole format was designed to prevent that very scenario. However, there are plenty of ifs and buts and, to be honest, I can't see Bangladesh repeating their heroics against the likes of Steyn and Morkel, nor their bowlers getting the better of Amla, De Villiers, Duminy et al so they may well bow out by a single point.
So who is my Player of the Week? Yuvraj Singh caught the eye with two chasing half-centuries and seven wickets, albeit against fairly easy opposition. Dale Steyn and Robin Petersen have provided some wrecking-ball performances for South Africa, and Stuart Broad's final tournament contribution meant that those performances didn't produce four points in the week. Ross Taylor The World Cup first wicket record partnership of 282 against Zimbabwe was pretty awesome, and Tillekeratne Dilshan's 144 was followed by an equally devastating bowling analysis of 4-4. However, my vote this week goes to New Zealand's Ross Taylor. He celebrated his 27th birthday with an unbeaten 131 in the crucial Pakistan game, and his remarkable six blitz at the death against Shoaib Akhtar and Abdul Razzaq wins him the best present of all, my Player of the Week award!
