One round to go in the World T20 Super Eights and it's Australia who are looking the strongest team so far. They are the only team still unbeaten in the whole competition and they have been winning easily, too.
Today, South Africa were the latest victims of George Bailey's side, but the competition so far has been all about Shane Watson. Not only has he struck three half-centuries in four innings, with more runs (234) than anyone else but the Aussie opener also leads the wicket table, too, with ten victims. That's what I call an all-round performance!
All eyes were also on the India-Pakistan clash which followed the latest Watson show, but this proved to be another mismatch. Lakshmipathy Balaji claimed another three-wicket haul and Ravi Ashwin maintained his good form with the ball to restrict Pakistan to 128 all out. Gambhir may have fallen second ball but Virat Kohli starred in the run chase. With such a modest target, he made the task look simple, ending on 78 not out. Nice to see Yuvraj Singh back in the runs and wickets, too.
The nice thing about a three-match group stage is that every fixture counts and, indeed, results so far have left the semi-finalists in the balance until the last few days. In both groups, the top two meet each other but Australia's formidable net run rate makes them near certain of progressing even if Pakistan beat them. If they don't, then there's a whisper of a chance for South Africa to sneak through at the last minute but they need a dominant victory over India on Tuesday. On play in the past week, I can't see it happening.
Because of the respective net run rates, Group One is more open. Sri Lanka have maximum points but if they lose heavily to England, West Indies could leapfrog them by beating New Zealand. On the other hand, the Black Caps could surprise us all and qualify should they beat the Windies and England fail to beat the hosts.
All refreshingly interesting, so much better than the interminable IPL structure!
Sri Lanka and Australia must be favourites to advance, and I fancy England and India to join them.
