The 12th edition of the Cricket World Cup 2019 has kicked off with a remarkable win of England. The hosts proved why they were termed as the favourites for the tournament. England defeated South Africa by 104 runs. Although in the start it felt difficult with England falling for Imran Tahir’s magic, one by one. Meanwhile, former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan has predicted the four semifinalists of the tournament.
However, England faired well with scoring 311 runs for the Proteas’ to chase. And while South Africa started off well, they were restricted to 207 falling to the spell of Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes. Meanwhile, the veteran Indian allrounder, Irfan Pathan unveiled his four favourite teams who are likely to make to the semi-finals. He named South Africa as one of them.
After the first two matches, the excitement for the remaining 46 matches has increased ten folds. Even though the Proteas’ lost their first match, they gave tough competition to the hosts. Their bowling attack was quite impressive, while they might need to improve their batting line-up.
And while all the teams are to fight against each other, being a round-robin format, only four of the ten will make to the semi-finals. England has emerged as the red-hot favourites of the coveted event, whereas India and Australia are the joint-favourites. However, it is the fourth team that everyone is making an assumption about.
Irfan Pathan Believes South Africa to make it to semi-finals instead of West Indies
The revamped side of England has recently been soaring high in the sky. They have been performing their best, looking almost impenetrable to breach for their opponents. Maybe this is the reason that no one can take them off of their list of favourites. Even the former Indian allrounder, Irfan Pathan had tagged England as his first choice who is likely to make it to the semi-finals.
On the other hand, India also comprises of some quality players in their squad. They have the two top-ranked ODI players in the name of Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah. Both the players are best in what their field of work. The men in blue have one of the most balanced teams in the tournament. They will be opening their World Cup campaign on June 5 against South Africa who will be looking forward to making it up for their first loss against England.
Whereas Australia has only recently risen to fame with the addition of their two best batsmen, David Warner and Steven Smith. Now, they are deemed as one dangerous defender of the tournament. And the fact that the Aussies have been dominating the World Cup since it started, having won five out of the eleven tournaments.
However, it is the fourth team named by Irfan that captured the most attention. According to Irfan, South Africa will make to the semi-finals. The Proteas has been semi-finalists for four times in the World Cup tournaments- 1992, 1999, 2007, 2015.
The post read as, “World cup is about to start,Lets talk about top 4. Mine: 1)India 2)England 3)Australia 4) south Africa #worldcup
Here is the post:
World cup is about to start,Lets talk about top 4. Mine: 1)India 2)England 3)Australia 4) south Africa #worldcup
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) May 29, 2019