Cricket World Cup: Form guide ahead of semifinals

Black Caps skipper Brendon McCullum. Photo / Brett Phibbs

With the quarterfinals done and dusted, there are now just two games to go until the Cricket World Cup final at the MCG next Sunday.

By beating the West Indies, the Black Caps have booked themselves a semifinal against South Africa at Eden Park on Tuesday. It promises to be an epic game between two sides in red-hot form. The other semifinal between Australia and India should be just as intriguing.

Here's a look at the form guide going into this week's matches.

First semifinal: New Zealand v South Africa at Eden Park - Tuesday, March 24

Overall head-to-head: Played 61; New Zealand 20, South Africa 36, NR/abandoned 5

World Cup: Played 6; New Zealand 4, South Africa 2

Eden Park: Played 6; New Zealand 3, South Africa 3

New Zealand

• ODI ranking: 5

• Record in this tournament: 7 wins, 0 losses

• Form in this tournament: Imposing. Yet to be knocked off and demolished West Indies in their quarterfinal, making a fool of those who questioned whether they had the mettle to handle the pressure of such an occasion.

• Key batsman: Martin Guptill. The opener's knock of 237no in the round of eight was the highest score in World Cup history and truly mesmerising. Can he back it up against a far better bowling attack?

• Key bowler: Trent Boult. The leading wicket-taker in the tournament with 19 scalps, while his tally of 14 maidens is double what the next best bowler in the tournament has achieved.

South Africa

• ODI ranking: 3

• Record in this tournament: 5 wins, 2 losses

• Form in this tournament: Building ominously. Inconsistent in the pool stage, but fired with bat and ball against Sri Lanka in the quarterfinal. Were rolled for 202 in their pool fixture in Auckland in a shock loss to Pakistan.

• Key batsman: AB de Villiers. They rely heavily on the best batsman in the world, but the fact is the skipper is absolutely capable of winning games off his own blade.

&byll; Key bowler: Imran Tahir. The legspinner was named man of the match in the Proteas' quarterfinal, when he snared figures of 4-26. Can the veteran get on top of the co-hosts, or will the 55m straight boundaries prove too short at the unique venue?

Second semifinal: Australia v India at the SCG - Thursday, March 26

Overall head-to-head: Played 117; Australia 67, India 40, NR/abandoned 10

World Cup: Played 10; Australia 7, India 3

SCG: Played 14; Australia 12, India 1, NR/abandoned 1

Australia

• ODI ranking: 1

• Record in this tournament: 5 wins, 1 loss, 1 washout

• Form in this tournament: Largely impressive. A collapse of 8-26 in Auckland was embarrassing and there would have been a few nervous moments when Shane Watson was dropped with the quarterfinal in the balance, but the co-hosts have otherwise excelled as expected.

• Key batsman: Steve Smith. Looked back to his best against Pakistan and made India's attack look impotent while scoring a record-breaking mountain of runs in the test series.

• Key bowler: Mitchell Starc. The left-armer has taken 18 wickets in the tournament at an unbelievable average of 9.77.

India

• ODI ranking: 2

• Record in this tournament: 7 wins, 0 losses

• Form in this tournament: Outstanding. Undefeated in the group stage then mostly untroubled against Bangladesh in their quarterfinal. Almost every one of their batsmen has played a match-winning innings during the tournament, while their attack has been surprisingly potent.

• Key batsman: Virat Kohli. Capped a stellar test series with a knock of 147 in Sydney, having regularly got the better of Australia's pacemen. Failed to fire in the quarterfinal, can the wild child deliver here?

• Key bowler: Ravichandran Ashwin. Didn't bag a wicket in India's quarterfinal, but bowled magnificently and the quicks at the other end profited from his ability to dry up the runs. Will be interesting to see how Australia approach the offspinner, especially if the pitch is doing a little bit.

- AAP

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