Cricket World Cup 2015 Preview

The 11^th Cricket World Cup begins with New Zealand playing Sri Lanka in the opening game on Valentine’s Day.  Can the Black Caps finally win their first Cricket World Cup title or will co-hosts and annoying rivals win yet another title?

Cricket fans from all over the world will be watching the pinnacle of Cricket for the next six weeks to see what records can be set, who can hit the most sixes, fours, wickets, hat tricks and catches. Fans will get to see the stars of world cricket that are in fantastic form at the moment.

Some of the players in great form at the moment include:  AB De Villiers (South Africa), Brendon McCullum (New Zealand) Moeen Ali (England) Virat Kohli (India) Angelo Mathews (Sri Lanka), David Warner (Australia) Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh) and Younis Khan (Pakistan)

This is the first time since 1992 that Australia and New Zealand has co-hosted the tournament.  New Zealand has come 3^rd twice in world cup history and as this tournament has been hosted along with Australia. Defending champions India come into the tournament struggling for form. The World cup final will be hosted on the 29^th of March at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG)

Here are our picks as too what we think may happen at the world cup:

Pool A

1.      Afghanistan: The Cricket World Cup debutants will no doubt struggle in this pool and will not make it too the next stage. The minos may have a chance against Scotland and may put pressure on the other teams

2.      Australia: Australia have won the title 4 times (1987, 1999, 2003, 2007) Australia have been in great form this summer by destroying India and England in their previous series but I think that will affect them because they will have to face a strong New Zealand side in the group stage. I think they will miss the final due to their mind-set of “yeap we will win as everyone are not as good as us”.

3.      Bangladesh: They have been at the tournament four times and made the super eight stages in 2007. This side has potential for thrills or spills. They key players no doubt are Tamin Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan. If they perform that will help them lay a good platform to push Sri Lanka and England close and possibly beat them.

4.      England: Here’s the odd one. England has made the finals three times in world cup history. (1979, 1987, 1992) England has the side to make a final, but they look like a team that lacks another batsman.  They sacked former captain Alistair Cook due to poor form, however he is a batsman that craved the Aussies up in the 2009 Ashes tour and is used to batting in those conditions. New captain Eoin Morgan is a dangerous player but not a captain so expect Stuart Broad to lead from the front as well.

5.      New Zealand: New Zealand has made the semi-finals on six occasions but has never made it to the final. With the tournament being held in conditions that they are used to, they definably have a good shot at winning this tournament in their back yard. This squad is the strongest squad they could have picked. They have seven players ranked inside the top thirty of the ICC world rankings for both batting (Kane Williamson 6^th, Ross Taylor 8^th, Brendon McCullum 30th) and bowling (Kyle Mills 20^th, Daniel Vettori 23^rd, Tim Southee 27^th, Mitchell McClenaghan 30th)

6.      Scotland: This will be there 3^rd appearance at the Cricket World Cup. Like Afghanistan, I don’t expect them to make the quarter finals; but they may push some teams close.

7.      Sri Lanka: The dark horses of this year’s competition. Sri Lanka know how to win the competition and did so in 1996. They have the experienced pair of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, plus they have the experienced all-rounder’s Angelo Matthews and Tillakaratne Dilshan. However they struggle in the bowling stocks as they only have Lasith Malinga as a genuine wicket taking bowler, they have picked plenty of spin and that may work against them.

Teams we expect to make the playoffs: New Zealand, Australia, England, and Sri Lanka

Pool B

1.      India: The defending champions come into the tournament in a form slump after having a disastrous series against Australia where they struggled to win a match. The biggest problem India have in trying to defend their title is that they struggle to play well and even look like winning when playing away from home.  India will miss the experienced Ishant Sharma due to injury. For India to win the world cup again, they will need to hope that Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni and Umesh Yadav have amazing tournaments which would help their chances dramatically. Don’t be surprised to see them out at the group stage.

2.      Ireland: Ireland have played in the world cup three times and have made the quarter finals once back in 2007. For mine I think they have a good chance of beating the weak West Indian Side and end up fourth in that pool.

3.      Pakistan:  Like Sri Lanka, Pakistan is another side to watch out for. They won the title in 1992 (In Australia and New Zealand) and made the final in 1999. They have fantastic batsmen like Misbah Ul-Haq and Younis Khan who will bat them out of trouble; also you can’t count out the experienced Shahid “Boom-Boom” Afridi who can score 100 of 40 balls. However there bowling attack lacks a strike weapon which may hurt them when they face South Africa due to the form AB De Villiers (South African captain) is in.

4.      South Africa: South Africa have made the semi-finals three times in there world cup history, but have never been to a final. South Africa is one of the teams to beat in this year as they have a well-balanced squad. They have two of the best batsmen in world Cricket at the moment in AB De Villiers and Hashim Amla. They also have the experienced and super dangerous bowling all-rounder Dale Steyn. The biggest question is can they win away from home?

5.      United Arab Emirates: This is the second time that the United Arab Emirates have played in the World cup after debuting in 1996. However they will be exactly like Afghanistan, they may ruffle some feathers, but not go further.

6.      West Indies:  The former kings of Cricket have won the title twice in 1975 and 1979 that was when they had guys like Sir Vivian Richards, Garfield Sobers, Joel Ganga and Michael Holding. Today on the other hand in the last twelve months there side has had smashed heavily and also has had three of the world fastest centuries formed against their weak bowling. Once you get the openers out (the quicker the better) the games over as they have no depth in their side. By not picking Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard due to issues with the board makes there side even weaker.

7.      Zimbabwe: Zimbabwe have played in the Super Six stage twice in 1999 and 2003 (today it would compare to the quarter final stage) however back then they had players like, Heath Streak, Andy and Grant Flower and Murray Goodwin. Today there team is not a patch on what it was and a not a team to worry about this time.

Teams we expect to make the playoffs: South Africa, India, Pakistan, and Ireland

Winner:

New Zealand to beat South Africa