Saturday, March 26, 2016

A 5th World Cup Knock Out Clash involving India and Australia

The Super Sunday do or die India vs Australia encounter on the 27th of March 2016 is just too difficult to call. Though India and Australia have contested each other many times in World Cups, it was only from this millennium that they have stood in the way of each other.

Looking back at the track record, it's 2-2 in knock out ICC world cup events with Aus clinching the 2003 WC final (23rd Mar), India winning a strong Aussie side in the 2007 T20 WC semifinal (22nd Sep) and then again vanquishing the Aussies at home in the 2011 WC Quarter final (24th Mar) thus preventing Australia from winning a back to back 4th WC title but however the Aussies avenged the revenge by thumping the Indians in their own backyard in the 2015 WC Semifinal (26th Mar). Both sides have won one each in South Africa and managed to come out trumps in their respective home ties. And now in the 2016 T20 WC, the two sides meet again at Mohali in a potential made up quarter final with both in the way of each other in garnering a spot in the semifinals.

Coincidentally also this is the 4th out of 5 battles happening in the month of March and a mathematical pattern has emerged with this being the 5th in a row happening in dates of 20's (23rd, 22nd, 24th, 26th and 27th). And to just make the whole equation all the more juicy, whenever these 2 sides have clashed each other in a head to head slugfest, the winner has gone on to eventually lift the title ;)

It just doesn't get any bigger than this and it's one prediction I just want to sit on the fence and seriously want to refrain from making. Fingers tightly crossed!

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