ICC World Cup Semi-Finals: Know the facts as strongest teams move to next stage

World Cup favorites India, Australia, England and New Zealand eye to book the finals berth

Now that the ICC Cricket World Cup is heading towards the finale, the top four teams are finally revealed. Though it was a predictable scenario when it comes to cricket, who is not excited! India proudly stands at the top with 15 points, followed by Australia with 14 points. England stands at third spot with 12 points and New Zealand sealed the fourth spot with 11 points. Thus, here are some facts about the four teams that every cricket fan wants to know before watching the World Cup Semi-Finals.

Australia

When it comes to a tournament like the World Cup, we all know how destructive Australia can be! The team has got the privilege to lift the cup five times, which is definitely a number that can get any opposition to a daunting level. And in England, the Aussies have been nothing but top-notch. The team is glittering with tour de force and has constantly placed itself at the top of the points table.

The Australian openers David Warner and Aaron Finch are right now the talk of the town. They have been named as the most destructive openers as they can throttle once the pace is set. It is difficult to decide who played better as the duo is meant to damage the opposition no matter what the conditions are. Aron Finch has scored 100, 53, 153, 82, 36 against the opposition. And on the other hand, Warner has scored runs like 53, 166, 26, 107 and 36. Therefore, looking at the strike rate, both the openers look hungry for runs and big scores.

There are chances that the duo might script a history, but the question is who? The Great Australian Comeback Warner who is back into the team after a 12-month ban or Finch whose dramatic innings every time points out towards making of a great Australian cricket history? The time will decide.

Then comes fidgety Steve Smith, who is seen playing his style of game in the important matches and scored 76 and 69 against Sri Lanka and India respectively. Then there is Usman Khawaja, who pops up and grabs everyone's attention and spices up the game. 89, 88, 42 are the kinds of runs that he has managed to take up easily. At many times he is considered as the weak link in Australian batting and most of the time seems destined for second billing. Glenn Maxwell makes some cameos in between with his not-so-technical batting style but fails to dazzle and he will surely buckle up ahead of the semi-final clash.

Considering the Australian bowlers then the stellar Mitchell Starc is the one who is on roll. He is capable of reminding all of us of Glenn McGrath and right now is the leading wicket-taker with 24 wickets in the tourney. Pat Cummins, Jason Behrendorff are also dazzling by keeping the pretty good economy rate and picking up important wickets. The team has the asset of being consistent throughout the tournament and is beaten only once by India and it surely looks to take the cup back home as the other days.

India

India was the second team to get qualified in the World Cup semi-finals after beating Bangladesh by 28-runs. India which is considered as a team who can chase any target failed to do so against England. But nevertheless, India has such a player right now who can score huge runs in every condition. Hitman Rohit Sharma has rubble of records now. With five massive tons, he is the only player in this World Cup tournament who holds such record. He an asset to the Indian team and everyone counts on him.

Rohit Sharma has scored 102,18, 140, 57, 122, 104, 102 runs that have helped India in building a pretty good score against the opposition. After Shikhar Dhawan's departure from tourney due to fracture KL Rahul took his place and have tried good enough to aid Sharma in the opening stand. He played a 77-run knock against Bangladesh that proved really helpful. Against England KL miserably failed as he went off for a duck.

Looking at skipper Virat Kohli's form then he is consistent with his half-century scores and has scored between 60 to 80 runs in every match except for South Africa and Bangladesh. Everyone is expecting a record-breaking knock from the skipper as he is one of those players who has the ability to convert the 50s into quick 100s. Therefore, his game will be looked out by everyone during the semi-finals.

India's middle-order is still a concern as there is still confusion of the No. 4 spot, Rayadu was expected to be the man at 4 but Vijay Shankar was seen taking that place and he has failed. Therefore, the skipper took the decision to fetch in Rishabh Pant against Bangladesh has he gave justice to the spot by scoring quick 48. So most probably he would be playing in the semi-finals as well because India needs a player who can anchor the innings in the middle overs till the end.

Dhoni, as we all know, is known as the great finisher but during this tournament, he is majorly lacking that skill. He is seen struggling in every match to score runs at the crucial stage and is wasting a lot of balls which drops down the run-rate. Thus, India will look to overcome this hurdle as well. Pandya dazzles with his quirky cameo and is capable of scoring quick runs, He comes like a storm and returns to the pavilion-like that. Even if he fails with the bat, he makes sure that he contributes with the ball. Against Bangladesh, Pandya picked up 3 crucial wickets to aid India towards victory.

Talking about the bowlers, then Bumrah has his ultimate Yorker spells and can pick up wickets in a jiffy. He was able to pick up 4 wickets against Bangladesh and everyone was awestruck the way he bowled. No wonder is the number one bowler in the world. Another gen that India has is Mohammed Shami, who has 14 wickets in four matches, including three four-wicket hauls, a fifer and that too at an excellent average of 13.79. Bhuvaneshwar Kumar's return has added a shoulder of strength as India was lacking one more pacer since the spinners are seen struggling throughout the tournament so far.

England

The team that made a great comeback from a slipping World Cup stands at the third position of the points table with 12 points in hand. England side that is now slightly revised and battle-hardened scraps all the way down to score pretty good runs when they bat first. We all know that Englishmen never bowl badly except for the conditions are ripe for swing and seam that were seen at Lord's against Australia where only Chris Woakes was replying.

Cricket is an English game and England know it how to do things right. Therefore, the team has perfection and planning in whatever they do. Ben Stokes is highly capable into deep on one side of the wicket whilst Jonny Bairstow simply burns up the ground. With these two guards, the skipper Morgan can fetch in his in-field in tighter-point along with extra-cover and mid-wicket which he was seen doing against New Zealand.

England just like Australia has the most destructive opening batsmen, Jason Roy, and Jonny Bairstow. They made 166 against India and 123 against New Zealand which literally revitalized their campaign and brought back England into a musical mood. The duo is just nonchalant with their approach but is like a storm for the opposition.

Jos Buttler has become attuned to belters around the world. During the qualifier match against Pakistan at Trent Bridge, he was seen in a firm form and completely authentic scoring a stylish 100. But in his last five innings, he is not seen in the form that we all are used to seeing him and has scored just 68 runs so far. Skipper Eoin Morgan is always a target for the bouncers, but he knows how to make quick runs in fewer balls whenever the team needs it. Morgan's record-breaking 144 in just 71 balls against Afghanistan was a sneak-peak for all of us of what he can do when he gets guarded in the field.

Also, the Englishmen cannot afford their captain to be ousted by especially India and Australia again as it happened when he was sent back by Mohammad Shami and Mitchell Starc in the qualifiers.

The bowlers, on the other hand, have outstanding strike-rates. Mark Wood has seen picking up a wicket every 26.5 balls in the tournament, Jofra Archer and Plunkett picked up every 28.5 balls. If they get their complete 10 overs then they are capable enough to take up 2 wickets in every game. Since England has five bowlers, they are bowling sides out especially when the opposition is batting second.

Chris Woakes has recovered most spontaneously after winters and Stokes is right now the most economical bowler of all yielding 4.64 per over. Spin has always been England's strength, but in this tournament, the pace has become the cornerstone for the team. Moeen Ali is always brought in early to keep the things tight especially for the left-handers and Adil Rashid comes in to take wickets in the mid overs or at death.

Since Moeen has a not so good Champions Trophy in 2017, this World Cup is also no good for the player neither with bat or ball. He made headlines only when he hit four sixes off nine balls against Afghanistan. And now Moeen Ali is out of the team and Liam Plunkett has been called in his place since he is not able to perform.

New Zealand

There was a bit of confusion about whether New Zealand will make it to the semi-finals as Pakistan was also in the race. But the team has managed to seal the semi-final berth. But there is an issue that the team has faced throughout the tournament and that is their consistency. The team is majorly lacking it. Talking about the big games against England and Australia then the team has lost by 119 and 86 runs respectively.

The openers Martin Guptill and Henry Nicholls have completely failed to build good scores. In fact, Nicholls was sent back to the pavilion at 0 while playing against England. Guptill made 20 in 43 balls whilst Nicholls made 8 in 20 balls against England. If the openers keep on wasting so many balls, it becomes difficult to create a good run-rate and that too while chasing. The team has not even faced the Men in Blue yet as the game was washed out. Therefore, the team doesn't even know the Indian side.

The talking point in the New Zealand team is the skipper Kane Williamson, who has maintained his level of consistency and tried to contribute a good amount of runs for the team. He scored 27 and 40 against England and Australia respectively. The figure is not overwhelming but he makes sure to be quick. He is a big innings player.

The Kiwi bowlers are also lacking consistency except for Henry and Neesham. Henry was the main reason Kiwis won the match against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. On the other hand, Neesham has also proved to be a good allrounder. He has been successful in picking wickets in middle overs. Mitchell Santner has been an economical bowler along with Ferguson who manages to pick up wickets at the death. Trent Boult's form is worrisome as he is failing to impress the fans as he was the former world number one ODI bowler. So basically, New Zealand needs to buckle up and bring back their consistency in order to move to the finale of the World Cup.