Cricket World Cup: Semi-Final Predictions!

We've finally reached the end of what has been a long but pretty entertaining group stage of World Cup cricket. India and Australia rightly topped the standings as the best and most consistent teams so far in this tournament and whilst Pakistan have looked as good as New Zealand at times in this tournament, their poor start let them down so you'd have to say the right four teams have progressed.

I'm fairly pleased with how things have gone for me so far at Superbru. With 42 points I'm still in with a decent chance of winning most of my pools though things are about to get interesting with increased WP values for the semis and final! Remember, each semi-final is worth 2 win points while the final is worth 3 (margin points stay at 1).

Here are my thoughts on each semi-final.

India vs. New Zealand

For me, there's only one winner in this match and it isn't New Zealand. With players as good as Kane Williamson and Trent Boult you always have a chance, but I'm not sure they have enough quality aside from those two players and Lockie Ferguson if he's fit. When you look at their campaign so far, two things stand out. One is that they've been hugely dependent on Williamson in order to win games, the other is that they're arguably yet to beat a strong side. They were defeated by Pakistan, Australia and England while their group game against India was rained off - that no result has proved to be massive for them.

India look a far stronger team and the form of Rohit Sharma with the bat and Jasprit Bumrah with the ball will be the biggest concerns for NZ. The difference between the two teams is that if Rohit does fail, you have three or four other Indian batsmen who have shown that they can score big runs in this tournament. New Zealand's second highest run scorer at this CWC is Ross Taylor with 261 runs - India have three players that have scored more than 350. I'd be very surprised to see India lose this match, particularly since NZ's last two innings totals have been less than 200. Prediction: India (easy)

Australia vs. England

This one is a far tougher pick! On paper, I see England as the stronger side just as I did ahead of the group game between these teams but their performance against the Aussies at Lord's is a big worry for them. The home crowd will create a lot of noise in this one since the match is at Edgbaston and that will help the hosts, but if the last meet is anything to go by, it could well be England who crumble under the pressure.

Regardless of whether they're batting or bowling first, England need to get an opener out sooner than they did at Lord's. With Usman Khawaja out injured, that first wicket has become even more key and if they get it before the Aussies score 50, they should win this match. Of course, the same goes for Australia's bowlers and it's hard to bet against Mitchell Starc taking wickets but Jason Roy is a significant upgrade on James Vince who played at Lord's. With Roy back, the Edgbaston crowd and England appearing to finally prepare the flat pitches that they should have been producing all tournament, I'm leaning slightly towards them. Prediction: England (narrow)

Let me know how you see these games going in the comments. Best of luck to you all with your picks!