So after the fourth round, it is clear that Papua New Guinea will advance to WCL Division 2, one step closer to the world cup 2015. PNG plays clearly as favourite and wins all the matches convincingly, without much difficulty. As only two teams can advance to the next round, the tug-of-war among other teams look interesting. Hong Kong, Oman and the USA earn equal 4 points with 2 wins, but are at 2nd, 3rd and 4th position respectively in the point table based on the run rate.
(Image Courtesy: ICC Official Website )
Hong Kong secures a positive run rate so far (+0.587), but the final match against PNG will definitely be the most challenging one for it in the tournament. Loss to PNG might close the door to Division 2 for Hong Kong. Oman (-0.510) must be hoping a victory against Denmark, the team at the tail of the point table. But Denmark can snatch the unexpected win, as it did against the USA. Americans are also aware that they must defeat Italy with a huge margin in order to better their run rate. Italy has a better run rate (-0.091) than both Oman and the USA (-0.729), so victory tomorrow will definitely put them ahead of the USA. Denmark, with only 2 points so far and run rate of -1.143, can only expect miracle to happen as it is way behind in the run rate race. However, no team will risk their chance of winning the match tomorrow, as competition is not only to advance to the next round, it is also to retain in the Division 3. The bottom two teams will be relegated to Division 4.
WCL Division 2 will take place between 8-15 April this year in UAE. The top 2 teams of Division 4 will compete with UAE, Namibia, Bermuda and Uganda.
