The minnow teams are looking as solid as ever this World Cup.
Just hours after Ireland’s thumping victory over West Indies, Scotland went very close to pulling off an upset too as they got into the New Zealand lower order defending a total of 143 today.
It would have been absolutely awful for the Kiwis if they had fallen short of that target.
They are the favourites for the World Cup title, but, they can’t get as panicky as they did today.
They had a small target to chase and a modest bowling line up to contend with. So, they got away, but, if they give sniff to the better teams, they would find themselves on the wrong side of things at the end of the day.
However, talking about Scotland, their spirit was heartening to see. Despite being bowled out for a very, very low total which was probably 80 less than par, they went out there after the break with the intention of making a statement. They battled for every single run, something that Ireland had done too versus the Caribbean boys.
People currently believe that the top 8 test nations would get to the quarters easily, but, having seen the approach of these minnows and their skill level as well, it seems very much possible that one or two of them would sneak into the knockouts.
Afghanistan has to play against Bangladesh tomorrow and that would be a cracking game to watch as well. An upset would definitely be on the cards there given Bangladesh’s current form.
Afghanistan already has a win against Bangladesh and they would definitely not mind another one and that too at such a big stage. It would be a humdinger, that game which is to take place in the Australian capital.