Image Credit- AFP
Let’s just say that this isn’t the event it was
supposed to be. Australia vs. England in the final group stage match at the
most magnificent location this World Cup has to offer. At the absolute least,
this was supposed to be a shoot-out for the semifinals, and possibly even a
practise run for a bigger match that would take place at this same location
later on.
And a long, long time ago, England might have even
imagined that this would be their chance to finally take care of their longest
rivals, Australia, who were the team languishing at the bottom of the World Cup
rankings following consecutive defeats by South Africa and India.
How the worm changed after that. Australia went on to
win four out of four games, while England has been playing poorly for the last
two weeks. They have a 0.4% chance of making it to the knockout stages going
into this match, but the fact that they are still in the running despite five
straight losses just serves to highlight how biassed this format is in favour
of the more experienced teams.
Both sides still have a great deal to lose, and
England’s pride is not the only factor at play. The shocking announcement last
week that the 2025 Champions Trophy players will be decided by the final group
stage placements implies that more humiliation is ahead if England is unable to
miraculously move up from tenth to ninth in the standings.
If Australia drops the ball today, it won’t be all
easy sailing into the semifinals. While a late-charging Pakistan offer another
unexpected top-four challenge, their own clash with fourth-placed New Zealand
will mean two points dropped by one rival or the other, an energised
Afghanistan lie in wait in their next round (and they look set to be level on
points by the end of their ongoing clash with the Netherlands).
There are clearly very different levels of risk
involved, but as is typical in Anglo-Australian World Cup matchups, the current
tournament context will undoubtedly be incorporated into the larger, wilder,
story of an old and unyielding rivalry.