Cricket World Cup 2015 Tables: Updated Standings After Latest Pool a Results
All but one match remains to be played in Pool A after Friday's 2015 Cricket World Cup fixtures, as New Zealand finished the group stages undefeated after a close win over Bangladesh.
Not much went right for England during this year's tournament, but the Three Lions ended things on a high by cruising to a win over Afghanistan during a fixture plagued by rain. Play in Pool A will come to a conclusion when Australia take on Scotland on Saturday.
Here are the results of Friday's action:
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- New Zealand (290/7) beat Bangladesh (288/7) by three wickets (with seven balls remaining).
- England (101/1) beat Afghanistan (111/7) by nine wickets (with 45 balls remaining, by D/L method).
The current standings:
| New Zealand | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | +2.564 | 1232/195.2 | 1123/300.0 |
| Sri Lanka | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | +0.371 | 1788/295.4 | 1703/300.0 |
| Australia | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | +1.597 | 1286/200.0 | 837/173.1 |
| Bangladesh | 6 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | +0.136 | 1392/248.1 | 1362/248.5 |
| England | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -0.753 | 1327/268.1 | 1338/234.4 |
| Afghanistan | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -1.853 | 1033/274.3 | 1419/252.4 |
| Scotland | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1.769 | 1069/250.0 | 1345/222.3 |
| India | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | +2.157 | 1156/194.5 | 944/250.0 |
| South Africa | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | +1.707 | 1878/297.0 | 1371/297.0 |
| Pakistan | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | -0.194 | 1189/247.0 | 1237/247.0 |
| Ireland | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | -1.014 | 1386/245.1 | 1579/236.5 |
| West Indies | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -0.511 | 1309/248.0 | 1349/233.0 |
| Zimbabwe | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -0.595 | 1393/246.0 | 1552/248.0 |
| United Arab Emirates | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1.961 | 1070/250.0 | 1349/216.1 |
Bangladesh gave New Zealand all they could handle on Friday, coming within two overs of spoiling the Black Caps' bid to end the group stages undefeated as they fell to a three-wicket loss.
Powered by the partnership of Soumya Sarkar (51 runs from 58 balls) and Mahmudullah (128 not out), the Tigers managed a solid 288 against one of the best bowling attacks in the tournament.
New Zealander cricketer Scott Styris was impressed with what he saw from Bangladesh:
Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Daniel Vettori were solid throughout the contest, keeping their economy rate low, but the Tigers took advantage of the rest of the Black Caps' bowlers, scoring 68 off Mitchell McLenaghan alone.
Chasing 288, New Zealand's innings took an early turn for the worse when captain Brendon McCullum was caught after just eight deliveries. Kane Williamson was gone just minutes later, but Martin Guptill put together a fantastic performance to keep his team in the match, scoring 105 from 100 balls.
The match ultimately came down to the partnership of Vettori and Southee, who did just enough to sneak out a close win. During the chase, Ross Taylor scored his 5,000th ODI run, becoming the fastest Black Cap to do so, per the ICC's official Twitter account:
Bangladesh will almost certainly meet defending champions India in the quarter-finals, and while they may have lost on Friday, the Tigers showed they can hang with the very best. Shakib Al Hasan was fantastic with the ball, grabbing four wickets, and if the bowlers can continue their fine work against the Men in Blue, there's no reason they shouldn't believe in their chances.
New Zealand will have to wait until the conclusion of Sunday's matches to find out who their quarter-final opponents will be.
England's simple win over Afghanistan was plagued by persistent rain, but Eoin Morgan's men made quick work of their opponents when it was their turn to bat, chasing down a reduced target of 101 in just 18.1 overs.
Four of Afghanistan's first five batsmen fell after posting single-digit scores, and while Shafiqullah's 30 from 64 gave the side a brief glimmer of hope, England's fine performance with the ball soon took all of that hope away.
Indeed, England's bowling was so good, one fan just had to make this joke:
Every single Three Lions bowler kept his economy under 4.00, with Stuart Broad making the biggest impression, taking two for 18 in eight overs.
The rain soon set in and the match was in danger of being washed out for a short time, but once things cleared up, England's batsmen went to work. Alex Hales was the only man to lose his wicket after scoring 37 from 33, and Ian Bell added 52 to cruise to an easy win.
Despite the heavy loss, Afghan captain Mohammad Nabi still took plenty of positives from the match and the tournament as a whole:
Both teams missed out on the knockout stages of the 2015 World Cup, but they'll be flying home with very different mindsets. For the Afghans, the tournament was a minor success, as they managed a win over Scotland on their World Cup debut and have a bright future ahead of them with the likes of Usman Ghani and Rahmat Shah coming up through the ranks.
The same can't be said for England, who disappointed tremendously despite taking preparations for the shorter format of the game very seriously. The losses against New Zealand, Australia and Sri Lanka came in embarrassing fashion, and a group-stage exit became inevitable after yet another loss against Bangladesh.
Serious questions will be asked regarding the future of coach Peter Moores when the team returns to England, and big changes may be just around the corner.
All statistics are courtesy of ESPN Cricinfo.
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