{"id":341242,"date":"2023-10-24T01:19:07","date_gmt":"2023-10-24T01:19:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=341242"},"modified":"2023-10-24T02:01:35","modified_gmt":"2023-10-24T02:01:35","slug":"no-rests-giant-killers-tip-world-cup-upside-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=341242","title":{"rendered":"'No rests': Giant killers tip World Cup upside down"},"content":{"rendered":"

Afghanistan<\/a> are officially the giant killers.<\/p>\n

Having knocked off England and Pakistan<\/a> in the ICC World Cup<\/a>, their status as minnows is no longer.<\/p>\n

\ufeffCurrently sitting in sixth spot, they're a chance at securing what previously seemed impossible: a spot in the World Cup finals. How will other countries respond now upsets are likely?<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'Till we meet again': Aussie cricketer's son dies<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Cricket world in mourning after passing of Indian legend<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'Formidable': World in awe of history-making minnows<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Australia coach Andrew McDonald<\/a> has already played his cards, stating there'll be no resting.<\/p>\n

"We won't be resting anyone," he said.<\/p>\n

"There won't be any designed rests. If they are to miss the game, it would be through potential niggles. We have got a short turnaround to the New Zealand game (next Saturday) but our focus is firmly on that Dutch game."<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"We've got a big break on the back of New Zealand, not that the players will be thinking about that at this point in time. We feel there's ample gaps with the way the tournament is structured that you can get your best players through all the games."<\/p>\n

After a shocking start, the Aussies sit in a precarious position.<\/p>\n

Watch every Australian Cricket World Cup match and other headline games live and free on Channel Nine and<\/strong><\/em> <\/em>9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

They're fourth, on four points, equal with Pakistan and Afghanistan. However, they have a game up their sleeve.<\/p>\n

The arch nemesis \ufeffEngland have it all to do. They're last and need to win every single game from here on in, while relying on other results.<\/p>\n

So where does everyone else sit?<\/p>\n

W\ufeffho's safe?<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

India can put the feet up. Currently first with 10 points, \ufeffthe host nation only has four games left, it'd take an unbelievable implosion for Pakistan or Afghanistan to dislodge them from the top four.<\/p>\n

New Zealand are close to putting the feet up too, currently on eight points with four games left. However, they do have Australia, South Africa, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in those matches and will need to give the world a reason to believe they can beat India in a decider.<\/p>\n

Who's in the hunt?<\/h2>\n

South Africa should be up there with New Zealand. However, their loss to the Netherlands<\/a> has thrown a spanner in the works. \ufeffWith five games left, and two of those against India and New Zealand, the Proteas are in real danger of dropping out. Matches against Pakistan and Afghanistan will be the difference. Their net run rate is the best out of any side though and will be a huge advantage.<\/p>\n

\"Azmat<\/p>\n

The game in hand for Australia is valuable, and they have \ufeffthe softer side of the draw, facing only New Zealand from the top four. No doubt England will be up for it when they clash.<\/p>\n

Pakistan and Afghanistan could sneak into the \ufefftop four, and the latter are a real chance. The ninth-ranked side plays Sri Lanka and Netherlands in their next two games before the big challenges of Australia and South Africa. A poor net run rate could hurt though.<\/p>\n

Pakista\ufeffn could be in the top four right now if it wasn't for their Afghanistan loss. They face Bangladesh, South Africa, New Zealand and England in a tough end to the draw.<\/p>\n

Who's hurting? \ufeff<\/h2>\n

Bangladesh, Netherlands, Sri Lanka and England are all on two points. Their advantage is they all have a game in hand over Pakistan and Afghanistan though.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

On form, none of the sides look likely of a finals appearance and they'll all need to win their remaining games. \ufeffAll four teams face two top four sides.<\/p>\n

England's attitude is all over the shop and they look nothing like the world champions of 2019. And it doesn't help that coach Matthew Mott has admitted to "guessing a little bit" in regards to selection after limited 50-over games at a domestic level.<\/p>\n

Joe Root<\/a> also expressed his concerns around preparation for the England side when speaking to media. \ufeff<\/p>\n

"There's talk of whether this format is relevant anymore anyway, in international cricket," he said.<\/p>\n

"Whether that gets changed, I don't know. Who knows how things will move in the future? But whether it's domestically or internationally, I don't think we play enough of it if we're going to continue to look to compete in World Cups."\ufeff<\/p>\n

In the \ufeffspace of four years, they've gone from the hunted to hunters. Does it represent the true decline of one-day cricket?<\/p>\n

Only time will tell. \ufeff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Afghanistan are officially the giant killers. Having knocked off England and Pakistan in the ICC World Cup, their status as minnows is no longer. \ufeffCurrently […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":341244,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341242"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=341242"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341242\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":341247,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341242\/revisions\/341247"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/341244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=341242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=341242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=341242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}