Men's T20 World Cup Group Stage Review

Right, now that Australia and Oman have finished playing the single most pointless game of cricket ever, the Men's T20 World Cup group stage has officially come to an end. The stage was full of highs and lows, back and forths and near misses, with the associate nations really stepping up and showing the big guns that there is life beyond the Test nations. We saw a massive upset in Group B with Zimbabwe TOPPING THE GROUP ahead of Sri Lanka and Australia. England were massive favorites to win Group C but were usurped by the West Indies and, elsewhere, Group A and D went as was predicted (except by yours truly).

GROUP A

Group A kicked off on the opening day of the tournament, in the very first game no less, and it was a banger! The game between Pakistan and the Netherlands came down to the wire with Pakistan needing 23 runs off 11 deliveries when Max O'Dowd dropped a tough chance off Faheem Ashraf which in all likelihood would have sealed the game for his team. Faheem went on to smash a further 18 runs off the over, leaving 5 runs to get off the final six balls, which were easily polished off. On the same day, India were given a bit of a scare against the USA, dropping to 6/77 before a brilliant innings by Suryakumar Yadav saved the day for India whose bowlers were always going to be too strong for the American batters.

The showcase game of this group was, obviously, India v Pakistan. The game was initially called off after Pakistan objected to Bangladesh's removal from the tournament. However, at the 11th hour the match was back on, but it may as well as not have been. India outplayed Pakistan in every facet of the game truly cementing this once great rivalry as merely another game of cricket that just so happens to not happen very often.

Because of Pakistan's heavy defeat at the hands of their greatest rivals, they had to wait until their final group game against Namibia to qualify, which they did convincingly. With no other real upsets anywhere else in the group it finished with India on top, joined in the Super 8 by Pakistan with the USA, Netherlands and Namibia rounding out the placings.

Sahibzada Farhan (Source: Associated Press)

GROUP B

This should have been a straightforward group. It was obvious from the start that even though the mighty Australians were weakened, especially in the bowling department, they would still have the firepower to qualify with co-hosts Sri Lanka. ZIMBABWE HAD OTHER PLANS. With Ireland failing to put up much of a fight against Sri Lanka, we had to wait for the 5th game of the group to see the first major tournament upset. Zimbabwe triumphed over Australia in what will go down as one of Zimbabwe cricket's biggest moments in recent memory and marked their resurgence in limited overs cricket. They scored a fairly tame 169/2 which, on a difficult Colombo pitch, proved enough to power past the Aussies by 23 runs. Brian Bennett, who has emerged as one of the world's best batters, played a measured knock and was assisted by some powerful hitting by Sikandar Raza. Zimbabwe realised that runs on the board with fewer wickets down counted for more than going big and losing wickets. Australia went hard, however, and lost wickets at regular intervals, ultimately falling short.

Three days later, Australia faced a must-win match against Sri Lanka and got off to a rollicking start, losing their first wicket after an opening stand of 104 in only 8.3 overs. Disappointingly, they only managed a further 77 runs, eventually setting Sri Lanka a target of 182. With a calm, measured approach, Sri Lanka kept chipping away at the target and, despite losing an early wicket, managed to get there with a couple of overs to spare with only 2 wickets down. Pathum Nissanka's century was a highlight of the chase and will go down as one of the best knocks in the tournament's history.

This loss meant that Zimbabwe needed only a point the next day against Ireland to knock Australia out and they got just that after the game in Pallekele was rained out. Zimbabwe then went on to finish the group at the top, chasing down Sri Lanka's 178 with 3 balls to spare in Colombo. What a moment for Zimbabwe cricket who have really put the effort into their cricket recently. This is the first time they have been through to the final 8 of the Men's T20 World Cup and will be looking to cause more upsets along the way. Sri Lanka finished the group in second, followed by Australia, Ireland and Oman.

Blessing Muzarabani took 4/17 v Australia (Photo: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

GROUP C

Group C ALMOST produced one of the biggest cricket upsets of all time when Nepal narrowly lost to England by a margin of just 4 runs. Needing just 10 off the final over with 4 wickets in hand, it was actually Nepal's to lose, but a splendid final over by England's MVP Sam Curran saw a thrilling encounter go the way of England. The next big game of the group saw England taking on the West Indies with the winner almost certain to top the group. The West Indies put in a strong batting performance, scoring 196 on the back of a blistering 76 by the immense Sherfane Rutherford. In reply, England never really got going and only a great knock of 43 from Curran brought any respectability to their total, falling short by 30 runs.

Elsewhere there was a wonderful story when Italy got their first ever Men's T20 World Cup victory, beating Nepal convincingly by 10 wickets. This all but meant Nepal would finish last in the group, and they did after falling to Scotland. I had predicted Nepal would reach the semi-finals so this came as a huge surprise to me. Special mention must also be made of Scotland here who, filling in for Bangladesh, only had 2 weeks to prepare for the tournament and finished third in the group behind England and the West Indies.

Sherfane Rutherford top scored v England (Source: Getty)

GROUP D

I am almost embarrassed to speak about group D after predicting that South Africa would be knocked out. I can now safely say they are one of the favorites to win the whole thing! The group got off to a fairly quiet start with wins for South Africa and New Zealand over Canada and Afghanistan respectively. The group then erupted in game 4 when South Africa took on Afghanistan in Ahmedabad. South Africa would have thought that 187 was enough to defend but Rahmanullah Gurbaz had other ideas, scoring 84 off 42 balls during Afghanistan's reply. The chase came down to the final over and South Africa had it won when Noor was caught off Kagiso Rabada's first ball of the final over with Afghanistan needing 11 to win. However, the dreaded siren sound then reverberated around the massive ground, signalling that Rabada had overstepped. Noor was given a life and he obliged by taking the match to the final 2 deliveries. However, with 2 off 3 needed, Fazalhaq Farooqi was run out after a brilliant piece of fielding, leading to the first super over of the tournament.

I could write forever about this match but will try keep it short. In an unprecedented turn of events, the first super over was tied after Tristan Stubbs hit the final ball for six after Afghanistan had posted 17 in their over. The second super over then came down to the final ball as well with Afghanistan needing a six to win. Keshav Maharaj held his nerve though, and Gurbaz was caught bravely going for victory. This defeat meant Afghanistan were all but knocked out of the tournament and South Africa were able to breathe a massive sigh of relief.

The next big fixture of the group saw South Africa take on New Zealand in Ahmedabad. New Zealand batted first and put up a solid total of 175. Captain Aiden Markram then scored a majestic 86 not out to see South Africa home by 7 wickets with plenty of balls to spare. This saw them top the group, joined in the Super 8 by New Zealand. Afghanistan finished third, followed by the UAE and Canada.

Will the Proteas go one step further this year? (Source: ICC)

Group Stage XI

Sahibzada Farhan - Pak

Pathum Nissanka - SL

Aiden Markram - SA

Ishan Kishan - Ind

Dipendra Singh Airee - Nep

Kusal Mendis - SL

Sam Curran - Eng

Varun Chakravarthy - Ind

Shadley van Schalkwyk - USA

Blessing Muzarabani - Zim

Usman Tariq - Pak

Super 8 Groups and Predictions

Due to the ICC seeding Super 8 groups before the tournament begins we will now see all four group winners (India, West Indies, Zimbabwe and South Africa) play against each other in group 1 while all second placed sides (Pakistan, England, Sri Lanka and New Zealand) will battle it out in group 2. Hopefully this will see the end of the ridiculous Super 8 seeding format.

This has, however, thrown some mouthwatering fixtures out of the hat. India v South Africa promises to be a tight encounter, as does New Zealand v England and Pakistan v Sri Lanka. My (probably very wrong) match predictions are:

Pakistan v New Zealand - NEW ZEALAND

Sri Lanka v England - SRI LANKA

India v South Africa - SOUTH AFRICA

Zimbabwe v West Indies - ZIMBABWE

England v Pakistan - PAKISTAN

Sri Lanka v New Zealand - NEW ZEALAND

West Indies v South Africa - SOUTH AFRICA

India v Zimbabwe - INDIA

England v New Zealand - ENGLAND

Sri Lanka v Pakistan - SRI LANKA

Zimbabwe v South Africa - SOUTH AFRICA

India v West Indies - WEST INDIES

Right, comment, swear at me, abuse me, do your worst. This has been a brilliant tournament so far despite the fixture mess-up and I am absolutely positive there are a bunch of surprises still waiting for us.