ICC World Cup 2023 has hit the halfway mark and the top teams have begun to separate themselves from the rest of the teams. The World Cup has picked up pace and fans can’t be more excited.
All ten teams have played five matches apiece except South Africa and Pakistan who have played 6 matches each. The hosts, India, who have won each of their first five games, are the team that is closest to that six-win total.
Also Read: ICC CWC 2023: Travis Head marks World cup debut with a terrific Ton against New Zealand
After 5 games apiece for the 10 participating teams, 6 wins out of 9 round-robin games can be regarded as safe, while seven wins are probably enough to secure a spot in the knockout stages. With 5 victories so far, the hosts India are the team closest to reaching the six-win threshold.
England and Pakistan, two of the top teams headed for an early exit, have little to no hope of making it to the semifinals. While England has a crucial game against India to salvage some hope of making it to the semifinals, Pakistan’s defeat against South Africa has made it challenging for them to land a spot in the semifinals.
After two early losses, Australia bounced back spectacularly to rank No. 4, and No. 3 New Zealand has been reliable aside from their lone loss to India thus far, India with zero losses in their 5 matches in 2nd position, while South Africa has made it to the top with their recent win against Pakistan on Friday.
South Africa and India are in the 1st and 2nd place of the points table with 10 points each, separated by considerable difference in NRR. South Africa has NRR of +2.032 while India has +1353. No. 3 New Zealand has 8 points and NRR of +1.481. Australia with 6 points and NRR of +1.142 are retaining 4th position. These 4 teams are standing tall on the points table and, more or less, will qualify for the semifinals.
