The unbeatables, underdogs, and everything in between

After a slowmoving group stage that kicked off early October the ICC World Cup 2023 will draw to a close in a flash this week Indiarsquos 160run victory over the Dutch on Sunday brought to a close the group stage of the tournament with the Men in Blue finishing unbeatable at the top of the table with 18 points and South Africa Australia and New Zealand joining them in the semifinalsThe event is being played in the 50over format with matches stretching to nearly eight hours in a day This format has been overshadowed in recent years by the fastpaced and more TVfriendly Twenty20 cricket where matches are typically resolved in almost less than three hours However the World Cup gives the longer game a chance in the spotlight once every four yearsAustralia South Africa and India were pencilled in for the semifinals by nearly everyone before the tournament The fourth team turned out to be New Zealand which beat the weaker teams and lost to the bigger ones in the group stage Their earlyround match against India ended in a fourwicket disappointment so the Wankhede semifinal could provide a resolutionFor the unversed Wednesdayrsquos contest would be a repeat of the 2019 knockout match where the Kane Williamsonled side had registered a narrow 21run win over IndiaAlso ReadFandom at its finestAfter over a month of surprising pitches occasional rain last minute net run rate NRR calculations and drama it is time to reflect on the four teamsrsquo performances at the sportrsquos marquee eventAustraliaAustralia has been the acknowledged master of the event producing a seemingly endless supply of top players to win four of the last five World Cups The team relies particularly heavily on Adam Zampa the leading spinner in a single World Cup edition He is one of the best in the game and was a key figure in Australias T20 World Cup triumph in 2021Coming into this tournament though the Yellow Army seemed to be woefully out of form and at several times during the earlier matches especially against Afghanistan they looked certain to loseOn the batting side Glenn Maxwell has been the workhorse who only recently produced one of the most astonishing World Cup innings by smashing 201 not out off 128 balls to lead Australia past mighty AfghansSouth AfricaThe Proteas have earned a reputation as a poor World Cup performer or more evidently the lsquochokersrsquo tag it has been playing in the event since 1992 but hasnrsquot made a final The team was on the wrong side of this tournamentrsquos biggest upset losing to the Netherlands However they came into this World Cup not just as favourites but as an exemplar of how cricket would be played in the future with a phalanx of powerhitting behemoths setting mathematically improbable scores thanks to their batting mainstay Quinton de KockTwo nerveless victories in mustwin matches against India and the Dutch may have underlined the teamrsquos quality to an extent but as they face archrivals Australia in the semifinals they are a team that seems to have the softest of underbelliesAlso ReadBruised but not batteredIndiaHosts India have been the most consistent team in the tournament coming in with a very strong and balanced squad and then moving on to put their adaptability on display time and againIt has also helped that skipper Rohit Sharma arguably has the best Indian bowling attack ever at a World Cup and the teamrsquos major weakness has been its middle order which the top three have generally covered with their success A bunch of injuries to key players might have derailed other sides but India boasts so much depth they could plug in replacements without much fussWhen one considers Indiarsquos hundreds of millions of loyalists and thriving Premier League IPL it is not unfair to expect it to win nearly every match it plays The team however has only two World Cup titles and one second place in the 11 events held thus farWhile many expect that shaky record to change this year there could be a memorable farewell in store for the fiery Virat Kohli who is speculated to be retiring from ODIs this yearNew ZealandMaking it to the semifinals is just what the Kiwis always do and have done They have made it to at least the knockout stage in four of the last six tournaments and it has been over 30 years since they have consistently failed to go past the league matches But unlike other editionsrsquo oddly weak and deflated version that looked shaky on most occasions this team feels like a swashbuckling playing XI that stands resolute against the opponents This feeling was exacerbated as they finished with four losses and bounced back right on timeYoungster Rachin Ravindrarsquos rocklike batting has been a godsend but the poor form of the others especially on the bowling front has meant no team relies on one batter as much as the Kiwis Although they possess a proper pace attack the Black Caps need runs on the board to make their presence felt against tabletoppers India at battingfriendly Wankhede on Wednesday