Some may feel that Zimbabwe's presence, alongside India, South Africa and West Indies, in Group 1 of the Super 8 round of the T20 World Cup will make it easy for other teams to dream of a semifinal spot. But it is not going to be easy for any team in the group as Zimbabwe are no pushovers anymore and more importantly, they are unbeaten so far in the tournament. In fact, all four teams in Group 1 didn't lose a single game in the group stage.
One has to commend Zimbabwe for playing their best cricket and not only advancing to the Super 8 round from the group that had Australia and Sri Lanka, but they also topped the group with three wins and a washout in four matches. They chased down 179 runs to beat hosts Sri Lanka at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo today, with Brian Bennett and Sikandar Raza being the heroes for them.
Not easy for India, South Africa to qualify for semis
India and South Africa, on form, are certainly the favourites currently to make it to the semifinals of the T20 World Cup. However, one certainly cannot count out the West Indies who won the trophy the last time the tournament took place in India, back in 2016. West Indies tend to bring out their best when not many back them to go the distance. Even Zimbabwe cannot be entirely ruled out as they are putting up spirited performances in almost every game.
India and South Africa who are set to face each other on Sunday must not take any team in the group lightly and play their best cricket to qualify for the knockouts of the mega event.
A relatively easy Group 2?
For the unversed, Pakistan, England, Sri Lanka and New Zealand comprise Group 2 in the Super 8 round and even this group is fascinating in its own way. All teams have lost one match in the group stage here and apart from Sri Lanka, none of them have truly played to their potential. England, Pakistan and New Zealand made it to this round after beating lower-ranked teams comfortably, while they lost to a full-member nation.
England went down to the West Indies, New Zealand lost to South Africa, while Pakistan were thrashed by India in the group stage. Sri Lanka is the only team in this group that defeated a higher-ranked team but lost to a lower-ranked team (read Zimbabwe), who remained unbeaten in their group and topped the points table.
Both groups in Super 8 are certainly fascinating and for now, it is becoming tough to predict the semifinalists. Each match is set to go down to the wire and it remains to be seen if Zimbabwe's underdog story continues beyond the Super 8 round.
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