Champions Trophy 2013 Fixtures: Where We Stand in Group Stage

The International Cricket Council Champions Trophy Group Stage has featured a few exciting matches over the past few days, and now the semifinals are beginning to take shape.

While some teams have been absolutely dominant during the tournament, there have been a few others that have been pretty disappointing up to this point.  Let’s go ahead and take a look at some of the more recent matches, followed by the current standings as group play comes to a close.

South Africa ties West Indies, Advances to Semifinals

The conditions were wet and muddy for the match, and it was certainly a close one throughout.  The two sides tied, but South Africa advanced due to a superior net run rate.

Dale Steyn was able to make the play of the game for South Africa as he assisted Ryan McLaren in scoring a wicket.  Steyn was able to make a great catch on Kieron Pollard, moving the par to 190 instead of 187.  It was just another great play by the famous Steyn to help South Africa.

The West Indies have to be devastated with how it ended.  Just after the play by Steyn, the game was called off and resulted in a draw. 

The conditions were apparently too bad to continue, and the match ended with a draw and the West Indies being left behind in group play.

India defeats Pakistan to Remain Undefeated in Tourney

This match had no impact on either team’s standings in group play, as India would advance while Pakistan would be left behind. 

Still, India was able to walk away with another win, putting them at 3-0 while Pakistan fell to 0-3 at the Champions Trophy.  Indian won by eight wickets in a shortened match due to weather conditions.

Unfortunately, the weather was an issue throughout the match.  There was a significant delay, and Sky Sports Cricket expressed their frustration while waiting for the match to start back up again.

After play finally resumed, the ICC announced the two innings would be 40 overs with a 30-minute break in between innings.

In the end, Indiana pulled off the win in the sloppy conditions, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar earning the Man of the Match thanks to 2-for-19 from eight overs.

India is simply looking unbeatable up to this point in the tournament.  It won’t be a shock to anyone if they take home the title.

England Advances to Semifinals with Win over New Zealand

England really needed a win in the Group Stage going up against New Zealand, and that’s just what they did.  They were able to defeat New Zealand by 10 runs in yet another shortened match with 24 overs a side.

The Man of the Match was Alastair Cook, the team’s captain.  It was certainly a well-deserved award, after his 64 from 47 balls on the day. 

Still, it was a close match with some questionable calls from the umpires.  Along with that, the weather was certainly in England’s advantage.

A win is a win, and now England can advance to semifinals and prepare for an exciting rest of the tournament now that they have wrapped up their Group Stage play.

Points Tables

As promised, here are the current standings as the Group Stage starts to wrap up.

Group A

Team	Wins	Losses	Ties	Points
England	2	1	0	4
New Zealand	1	1	0	3
Sri Lanka	1	1	0	2
Australia	0	1	0	1

Group B

Team	Wins	Losses	Ties	Points
India	3	0	0	6
South Africa	1	1	0	3
West Indies	1	1	0	3
Pakistan	0	3	0	0