Two of the four semi-finalists have been decided in the Cricket World Cup. The other two spots will be filled by Mar. 21.
South Africa defeated Sri Lanka in the first quarter final, overcoming their dark history of choking in crunch matches.
South Africa put on a masterful display of fast bowling. The fiery opening
by Dale Steyn, Kyle Abbott and Morne Morkel was backed up by the artful leg spin of Imran Tahir.
Along with the game, Sri Lanka also lost two of its most prolific run scorers in Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara.
Both good friends have called time on their wonderful careers.
Sangakkara will still play Tests until Sri Lanka’s series against India in August but Mahela played his last international game of cricket against South Africa.
In the second quarterfinal, India convincingly beat Bangladesh to enter the semi-finals. Rohit Sharma, India’s opening batsman anchored the Indian innings with 137 runs off 126 balls. Suresh Raina chipped in with a half century taking India’s total to 302.
Bangladesh scored 90 runs but lost their first four wickets. Bangladesh tried to stabilize but kept losing wickets at regular intervals. They could only muster up 193 runs, losing by a huge margin of 109 runs.
Rohit Sharma was judged man of the match.
Pakistan will face host nation Australia in the third quarterfinal on Mar. 19.
New Zealand and West Indies will face off on Mar. 20 for the final spot in the semi-finals.
The winner of the World Cup will be decided on Mar. 29.
Here’s a look at the past winners of the most coveted prize in cricket.
