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Week Five Roundup

Into the last few days of the group stage, and despite some squeaky bums, it looks like the four favourites have booked their respective places in the semis. It remains to be seen how the top two will work out, as Australia take their current advantage into the final game against South Africa on Saturday, while India will face Sri Lanka in the early game hoping to snatch top spot and avoid England in the semi. New Zealand are the only team still precariously placed, but in order for Pakistan to steal their place in the last four, they'll need to beat Bangladesh by a record margin of 316 runs on Friday. And of course, the vagaries of the net run-rate system mean that if the Tigers win the toss and elect to bat first, it will immediately render the match a dead rubber. Elsewhere, the West Indies will finish an ultimately disappointing campaign tomorrow, and cricketing neutrals the world over will have their fingers crossed that having come so close so many times these last five weeks, Afghanistan will finally get across the line with a historic win.

In the individual stakes, Rohit Sharma has now equalled Kumar Sangakkara's record four centuries at a single tournament, with plenty of time left to go one better; Chris Gayle will need at least 47 runs against Afghanistan tomorrow if he's to surpass Brian Lara and retire as the West Indies all-time top World Cup run-scorer, and barring some absolute catastrophe that rules him out of the tournament, it's now a matter of when, rather than if, Mitchell Starc becomes the new record wicket-taker in a World Cup. On a slightly less likely note, but nevertheless possible, Friday will see Shakib Al Hasan's last innings in this competition, and a knock of 132 or more against Pakistan would make history by breaking Tendulkar's run-scoring record.

Leading Run-scorers

1. Rohit Sharma (IND) - 544
2. Shakib Al Hasan (BAN) - 542
3. David Warner (AUS) - 516
4. Aaron Finch (AUS) - 504
5. Joe Root (ENG) - 500


Leading Wicket-takers

1. Mitchell Starc (AUS) - 24
2. Lockie Ferguson (NZ) - 17 [for 316]
3. Jofra Archer (ENG) - 17 [for 387]
4. Mohammad Aamer (PAK) - 16 [for 327]
5. Mark Wood (ENG) - 16 [for 369]