India poised for Pakistan semi-final

MUMBAI,  (Reuters) – An India-Pakistan World Cup  semi-final is the most appetising prospect to emerge from a  month of preliminary matches which otherwise served primarily to  confirm the identity of a predictable final eight.
Pakistan and West Indies open the quarter-finals in Dhaka on  Wednesday with the winners drawn against the victors of the  India versus Australia match in Ahmedabad on the following day.
South Africa and New Zealand meet in Dhaka on Friday before  Sri Lanka host England in Colombo on Saturday in the battle for  the second semi-final spot.
Anxious to avoid an early exit for any of the leading  contenders after India and Pakistan flew home early from the  2007 tournament, the International Cricket Council (ICC) pitched  the 14 teams into a round-robin first round format.
“We trying to ensure we give every team the best opportunity  of remaining in the competition and not losing out just because  of one bad game so that the best do go through,” ICC chief  executive Haroon Lorgat told Reuters before the start of the  tournament on Feb. 19.
The ICC, the television networks and the sponsors got their  wish in a tournament which, after finally reaching the knockout  stages, now looks the most open since 1999.
Australia, aiming for a fourth consecutive title, are not  the force of previous tournaments, losing a World Cup match for  the first time in 12 years when they were deservedly beaten by  Pakistan in the first round.
India have a nation willing them to success in the Mumbai  final on April 2. But their collective temperament has been   questioned after they emerged with only one point from their  matches against England and South Africa despite centuries on  both occasions to the peerless Sachin Tendulkar.

BEST-BALANCED SIDE
South Africa’s belief that this may at last be their year  after a history of underachievement in the tournament is based  on a fine pace attack, able spin bowling, solid batting and  their customary slick fielding. They are also the only team to  have bowled out their opponents each time in the group stages.
Sceptics, though, point to their failure to overhaul a  modest target against England as evidence of a continued  fallibility  under pressure.
England, who have looked at times physically and mentally  spent since their Ashes heroics, lost to Ireland and Bangladesh  but emphasised their fighting spirit under Andrew Strauss in a  tie with India and victories over South Africa and West Indies.
Winning in Colombo against the 1996 champions still looks  like a step too far after Sri Lanka did nothing in the first  round to erode pre-tournament assessments that they have the  best-balanced side in the competition.
With the weather getting hotter and the pitches starting to  deteriorate faster, the sub-continental sides have an increasing  advantage which Pakistan should exploit to West Indies’ cost in  Dhaka.
Their swashbuckling captain Shahid Afridi has led from the  front, emerging as a match winner with the ball by taking 17  wickets with his aggressive wrist spin.
The winners of the New Zealand-South Africa semi-final will  play the victors of the Sri Lanka-England tie in Colombo on  March 29. Mohali will stage the second semi the following day.