Three quick-fire thoughts from the weekend's action:
1. Nobody wants to take on New Zealand at the moment... except Australia. That is why this is such an anticipated clash. New Zealand, as they showed in their demolition of a struggling but hardly inept England side, are in the form of their lives. Australia, having also demolished England, will have had a fortnight to cool their heels before they get a chance to take the home side down a peg or three. Buckle in.
2. India look the real deal, South Africa look bereft of new ideas. This is not something I envisaged before the tournament and it's not something that will necessarily hold. South Africa are too good to play as badly as they did against India again, while I'm not sure India's bowlers can be as effective without the safety blanket of a 300-plus score.
3. Sri Lanka just look in horrible shape. They look like they're sick of being away from home and, in some cases, sick of cricket. Afghanistan deserve a big pat on the back for being so competitive but, frankly, they shouldn't be able to get within cooee of the three-time World Cup finalists. What Afghanistan's performance did do, however, was highlight the shortsightedness of reducing the number of teams at "world" cricket's showpiece event.
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