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As if Thursday’s match wasn’t big enough in itself, the game will also no doubt mark the end of the World Cup career of one of two genuine all-time cricketing greats – Sachin Tendulkar or Ricky Ponting. One will live to fight another day in this tournament, while the other will pack his bags and head for home, leaving the sport of cricket a little poorer.
Ponting isn’t the most popular cricketer around, and he did his reputation no favors after refusing to walk when caught by Kamran Akmal on Saturday, but there’s no doubting his talent. Tendulkar, meanwhile, is arguably the greatest cricketer ever, and he will be desperate to add that elusive World Cup winner’s medal to his brimming trophy cabinet. Both will be fighting as if their lives depended on it come Thursday.
In the other quarterfinals, Pakistan plays the West Indies in Dhaka on March 23, South Africa plays New Zealand, also in Dhaka, on March 25 and England faces Sri Lanka in Colombo on March 26.
Those are some intriguing ties. World Cup cricket is peculiar in that we’ve known all along that these eight teams were the most likely to progress into the knock-out phases. The tournament has been going for about a month yet we’re no clearer now on who might win than we were in February.
The World Cup this year is much more open than previous events. No team remains unbeaten. But now come the real challenge and the main spectacle – the big guns facing off with all to play for. Today and Tuesday are the only days in the past month that don’t feature a World Cup cricket match. It’s enough time to take a quick breath but not much more. This is just the calm before the storm.
Ponting isn’t the most popular cricketer around, and he did his reputation no favors after refusing to walk when caught by Kamran Akmal on Saturday, but there’s no doubting his talent. Tendulkar, meanwhile, is arguably the greatest cricketer ever, and he will be desperate to add that elusive World Cup winner’s medal to his brimming trophy cabinet. Both will be fighting as if their lives depended on it come Thursday.
In the other quarterfinals, Pakistan plays the West Indies in Dhaka on March 23, South Africa plays New Zealand, also in Dhaka, on March 25 and England faces Sri Lanka in Colombo on March 26.
Those are some intriguing ties. World Cup cricket is peculiar in that we’ve known all along that these eight teams were the most likely to progress into the knock-out phases. The tournament has been going for about a month yet we’re no clearer now on who might win than we were in February.
The World Cup this year is much more open than previous events. No team remains unbeaten. But now come the real challenge and the main spectacle – the big guns facing off with all to play for. Today and Tuesday are the only days in the past month that don’t feature a World Cup cricket match. It’s enough time to take a quick breath but not much more. This is just the calm before the storm.
