Sangakkara to step aside, and Holder to step forward...
Tuesday 17 March 2015 15:59, UK
Ahead of four mouth-watering World Cup quarter-finals, our cricket writer David Currie picks four things he'd like to see...
We’re set for four fascinating World Cup quarter-finals this week. Each game provides its own unique set of storylines, questions and intrigue.
But we’ll leave the speculation and predictions to the pundits, who will provide previews for each mouth-watering tie throughout the week.
What I'm going to do instead is list what we’d like to see from each game…
(Sri Lanka v South Africa, Sydney) Wednesday 18 March, 3am
As much as he’s a thing of beauty to watch when in full flow, we’ve seen enough, for now. Sangakkara has scored four glorious hundreds in a row, but arguably Sri Lanka’s best knock of the tournament came from his long-time teammate, Mahela Jayawardene, who hit a crucial match-winning ton with his team at 18-3 chasing Afghanistan’s 232. Let’s see something special from him again in the quarter-final against South Africa, or Lahiru Thirimanne, Angelo Mathews, anyone. Sangakkara can feel free to hit back with another hundred in the final if he must, to give his ODI career the swansong it deserves, but please give us something different to write about in the meantime.
(India v Bangladesh, Melbourne) Thursday 19 March, 3am
Bangladesh deserve their quarter-final spot, no question. But in the intimidating atmosphere of a packed out MCG that was reserved for England and will likely be dominated by India fans, can they put in a performance to match the occasion? Be it in a winning or losing cause, this Bangladesh team deserve to leave their legacy at this tournament after previous false dawns. The character shown in first knocking out England and then very nearly knocking New Zealand from their unbeaten perch in their two most recent games suggests they can give India a scare for sure. Can Mahmudullah Riyad do a Sangakkara and score a third (or fourth) straight ton?
(Australia v Pakistan, Adelaide) Friday 20 March, 3am
Let’s face it. With England’s hopes of winning the tournament over, the next best outcome is that Australia don’t. Pakistan, surprisingly, may just be the best team to make that dream a reality as – other than the West Indies – they’ve got the most World Cup wins against the Aussies. Pakistan beat them in Perth in 1992 on their way to the title, were the last side to beat them in 1999 before their record 32-match unbeaten run across four World Cups, and they were the team to end it four years ago. Plus, they’re in red-hot form, with their ferocious pace attack firing them to four straight wins entering the quarter-finals, Wahab Riaz, Sohail Khan and Mohammad Irfan all impressing.
(West Indies v New Zealand, Wellington) Saturday 21 March, 12.30am
Without a full-strength side at his disposal due to injuries and a fair few selection controversies, the West Indies captain, Jason Holder, has stuck manfully to his task. At only 23 years of age and in charge of arguably the most dysfunctional and mercurial cricketing nation of the bunch, he’s had to face up to – among other things – a heavy opening defeat to Ireland and himself conceding the most runs ever in a World Cup with 104 as South Africa amassed 408-5 against his side. He’s not hidden from the challenge, though, and fronted up to the media with character and humility. The guy deserves a break and a few breakthroughs against New Zealand - perhaps after another Curtly Ambrose inspired pep talk!
Check www.skysports.com/cricket throughout the week for more build up to the World Cup quarter-finals. And remember, you can watch all the games live on our dedicated channel, Sky Sports World Cup.
