ICC Cricket World Cup: 5 group stage matches to look forward to

The ICC Cricket World Cup is exactly one month away and we are sure to witness some great matches at the biggest event in the world of cricket.The 14 teams have been divided into two groups with Group A consisting of Australia, New Zealand, England, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Scotland. India, South Africa, Pakistan, West Indies, Zimbabwe, Ireland and UAE make up the numbers in Group B.The way these two groups are lined up, a lot of exciting matches are guaraanteed for the fans. Here are the top 5 group stage matches to look forward to:

#5 Sri Lanka vs New Zealand - February 14

The 2015 World Cup begins on February 2015 and what better, than to start it with a mouth-watering clash between the Kiwis and the Sri Lankans. What makes this clash one to look forward to, is the fact that New Zealand are a strong contender for winning the title and have an added advantage of being the co-hosts, and Sri Lanka are the current Asian champions, and any ICC event is right up their alley.

Sri Lanka have been the runners-up in the past two editions of the World Cup and this will be a great chance for them to cross that final hurdle and win the cup that has eluded them for the past 18 years. They have an added motive since this will be the last World Cup for their legendary trio of Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, and Tillakaratne Dilshan; not to mention their brilliant pace bowler Lasith Malinga.

It will be hard to replace these players and it might take a long time for Sri Lanka to become such a formidable team again. The Black Caps, on the other hand, have a very well balanced side and an experienced and aggressive captain in Brendon McCullum. Both teams will be looking to begin their campaign with a victory. This promises to be an exciting encounter.

#4 India vs South Africa - February 22

We have the defending champions on one side, and probably, the strongest team in the world currently on the other. Exciting, isn’t it?

This match is all set to take place on February 22 at the MCG in Melbourne. Though they recently lost the ODI series 1-4 down under, if any team has to be chosen to be given the favourites tag, it is the Proteas. They are very strong in all departments, be it the batting, the bowling or the fielding.

Dale Steyn and co. will hope to attack the Indian batsmen with aggressive, fast bowling by making good use of short-pitched deliveries. In the batting department, South Africa will mainly look to their trio of Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis to deliver the goods. The consistency, with which these three score runs is quite remarkable.

The only hindrance is their ‘choker’ tag at major ICC events. India, on the other hand, will be looking to score big with their top-notch batting lineup because their bowling attack is certainly not one of the best. Both teams are sure to come out all guns blazing and will look to try and get a victory from this match.

This will be a battle definitely worth looking forward to!

#3 Australia vs England - February 14

This is the second match of the World Cup and any Australia vs England clash is one to look out for. After losing in the Test series in England, the Aussies returned the favour to England down under by making good use of aggressive fast bowling, with Mitchell Johnson being the chief tormentor for the English batsmen.

Australia continued their fine form in the ODIs, thrashing England 4-1. England will be keen to make amends and defeat Australia on the latter’s home turf when they meet on February 14. While England are surely going be without recent captain Alastair Cook, who has stepped down, Australia also may have to play without their skipper Michael Clarke, whose presence is doubtful because of a hamstring injury.

While Australia have an able skipper-in-waiting in George Bailey, England’s new captain Eoin Morgan does not have much experience and has a batting lineup which does not look very formidable. Australia, on the contrary, have a balanced squad and are in great form heading into the tournament. But as we know, in a World Cup encounter, current form of the teams does not matter much. How they play on that day is what matters.

#2 Australia vs New Zealand - February 28

It is a well-known fact that there is no love lost between these two sides and what adds to the excitement is that both of them are the co-hosts for this World Cup. Fans from both countries will make their presence felt and an electrifying atmosphere can be expected when these two teams take on each other at the relatively new Eden Park, Auckland on February 28. It promises to be a Super Saturday.

Both teams are very well balanced and it will not be a big surprise if one of these two teams are crowned champions. They have not played each other in an ODI recently, but both carry contrasting ODI forms into their World Cup campaigns.

Australia have enjoyed success against South Africa down under and against Pakistan in the UAE. New Zealand, on the other hand, have lost series to South Africa and Bangladesh in the last two years while defeating Pakistan and India. Both teams will have extra motivation to win and finish as high on the group table as possible to avoid meeting teams like India or South Africa in the quarterfinals.

#1 India vs Pakistan - February 15

Any big cricket tournament is not complete without an India-Pakistan encounter. This is perhaps the most fiercely contested cricket match between any two countries in the world. The long history of tension between the two countries adds to the pressure on both teams to win the match.

India have an extraordinary record vs Pakistan in World Cups. The Men in Blue have won 5 times and never lost a match at the tournament to Pakistan. Misbah-ul-Haq’s side will try to change this embarrassing record, but their job will not be made any easier by an Indian side which has arguably the strongest batting line-up in the tournament.

Also, Saeed Ajmal is yet to be cleared for his suspect action and it will be a huge blow to Pakistan’s chances if he is not cleared before the World Cup. The last few matches at the Adelaide Oval have produced low scoring games and a score of 250 will be par for the team batting first.

All in all, there will be millions of emotional fans in both countries cheering their respective teams and hoping they come out as winners.