Cricket World Cup: Round Six Predictions!

It's been great to have far more cricket in Round Five than there was in Round Four with the weather holding off enough to give us results in each of the games so far. Like most people, I have got the first four games in the current round correct but I decided to switch to Bangladesh following the toss in today's game! I was feeling quite pleased with myself when Gayle was out for a duck but the eventual 321 the Windies managed looks a few too many unfortunately, even at Taunton.

On to Round Six then and we have three games that you'd expect to fall the way of the teams already occupying the semi-final spots. However, both New Zealand and Australia will be tested in this round in my opinion.

England vs. Afghanistan

This game looks virtually impossible for Afghanistan to win. They're just nowhere near good enough with the bat and if you can only manage around 150 against Sri Lanka then you're really going to struggle against England. Khan and Nabi are excellent with the ball but they can only bowl 20 overs between them. This should be a walk in the park for England even without Roy. Prediction: England (thrashing)

New Zealand vs. South Africa

I'm really looking forward to this one. The situation will be the same for the Proteas until they next lose a game - they need to win to stand any chance of progressing. There's obviously big motivation for them as a result but they're up against a very good New Zealand side here. I expect the Proteas to hold their own with the ball but I just worry about their batting against this Kiwi attack. It feels as if they'll struggle to get many runs unless de Kock has a big score and the pressure on him will grow even more unless Amla can start scoring more quickly. Henry and Boult aren't ideal bowlers to face for an SA lineup that is short of form. Prediction: New Zealand (comfortable)

Australia vs. Bangladesh

Bangladesh are a very tough side to beat but I'll be backing Australia. The only concern the Aussies will currently have is that their top order have been building good platforms when batting but they aren't finishing innings as strongly as they should be. Against both the Windies and Sri Lanka it felt as though they should have got far higher totals than they did. They should still beat Bangladesh but I'm keeping my margin down a little as a result. Prediction: Australia (comfortable)

Best of luck to all in Round 6. In terms of your fantasy picks, a full England four looks the way to go tomorrow while Kane Williamson, Imran Tahir, Glenn Maxwell and of course Shakib Al Hasan should all be considered on Wednesday and Thursday. Aaron Finch looks in better form than David Warner for the time being but it's surely only a matter of time before Warner starts scoring more quickly again? Band 1 is always tough when Australia and/or India are playing!