T20 World Cup: The stage is set for the big guns to fire

Dubai: “I think the World Cup really starts now,” South Africa’s specialist coaching consultant Albie Morkel declared ahead of the Super Eights in the ongoing T20 World Cup,

And he is not wrong, with due respect to the sides that have been eliminated, including Australia and Afghanistan.

Instead, it is Zimbabwe who have flipped the script by beating both the Aussies and Sri Lanka in their group matches to join co-hosts India, the West Indies and South Africa in Group 1. Incidentally, all four sides finished on top of their respective groups after not losing a single match.

The second-placed teams in those groups – Sri Lanka, Pakistan, England and New Zealand – are in Group 2.

In-form teams

So, with four in-form teams in Group 1, there’s all to play for, starting with India vs South Africa in Ahmedabad on Sunday.

“It's really tough. It's going to be all good games. Yes, there will be more pressure on those games as you move later towards the playoffs,” Morkel said of South Africa’s chances in the group.

India, on the other hand, say they can peak at the right time and play their "perfect game" in the Super Eights, while playing down the abject form of opening batsman Abhishek Sharma, who has not opened his account for three matches in a row now.

"I don't think we've played our perfect game yet," India's assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate told reporters on Wednesday.

"But we've had contributions from most of the players now, barring Abhishek, and I think we're moving in the right direction."

Looking ahead to the Super Eights, he added: "It's a good time to peak. And like I say, we haven't played our best game yet, but this is the time to bring it to the table."

The India vs South Africa match in Ahmedabad is just one of the many mouth-watering clashes cricket fans can look forward to starting this Saturday.

In the other match on Sunday, England face co-hosts Sri Lanka in Kandy, with Harry Brook’s side lucky not to be on the plane back home. But for Sam Curran’s heroics against both Nepal and Italy, England’s stuttering campaign would have ended in the Group stage itself. Sri Lanka had been on a roll before being jolted back to reality with their defeat to Zimbabwe, but should bounce back against the Englishmen.

Prior to those two matches, there is the opening game of the Super Eights between Pakistan and New Zealand in Colombo. The Kiwis were hammered by South Africa in their group match and with Pakistan being the ever unpredictable side with a penchant for peaking deeper into a tournament, don’t be surprised to see the Men in Green walk away with this one.

On Monday, the first set of matches will be completed with the dangerous West Indies taking on surprise package Zimbabwe in Mumbai. The African underdogs weren’t expected to be among the last 8 teams, so count them out at your own peril.

Here then are the predictions for the two groups…

Group 1: India should peak at the right time and make the semi-finals, as would be expected of the defending champions. The West Indies, on the other hand, have regained their mojo and it is their match with South Africa that is likely to decide the other semi-finalist from this group. However, a word of caution here. Zimbabwe have been flying in this tournament and have the arsenal to bring down any of the other three teams on their day.

Group 2: Expect Pakistan to get it all together and progress to the last four, along with Sri Lanka, despite the latter’s setback against Zimbabwe. On sub-continent wickets, England in particular have been struggling, while the Kiwis are yet to hit their stride despite wins against minnows Canada, the UAE and underperforming Afghanistan.