World Cup Press Box | Super-charged Niue and World No. 1s Canada collide in first semifinal

[World Cricket Conference]

Denmark end Pakistan's dream run with 10-wicket trouncing
Pakistan, who remained unbeaten during the group stage, were brought back down to earth with their wings melted off as the Danes secured a semifinals qualification against India in Christchurch.​

Pakistan's 10-wicket loss to Denmark was the World Cup's biggest defeat © Associated Press, December 21, 2003​

REVIEW: PAKISTAN vs DENMARK, QF4​

Pakistan met Denmark in the fourth quarter-final of the Cricket World Cup, and to everyone's surprise, Pakistan were the team to enter this contest as the favorites. Up until this point, Pakistan were the best-performing side in the tournament, having advanced out of Group D as the only unbeaten team to have played all four group matches. Their road to the quarter-final included massive wins over Morocco and South Africa, which propelled their status from underdogs to World Cup favorites. However, their dream run turned into an unforgettable nightmare when they met Denmark in the fourth quarter-final, as the Euro Cup champions brought a screeching halt to Pakistan's campaign with a 10-wicket trampling in the biggest defeat of the tournament.

After winning the toss, Aksel Johansson invited Pakistan to bat first with 8.0 overs shaved off each innings due to a heavy downpour before the start of the match. Johansson's decision proved fruitful immediately, as Martin Lundgren struck on the second delivery of the game to send Mohammad Rafi back on his way for a duck. Quite surprisingly however, after his first-over blow, Lundgren was removed from the attack and Aage Storgaard was given the ball to bowl the third over. Denmark very clearly had a strategy and it was paying off in spades, as Aage removed Ali Chughtai to validate Johansson's bowling change, reducing Pakistan to 5/2 in the process.

Saim Rizvi and Talha Hayat, the two-best batsmen of the team, attempted to rejuvenate Pakistan's innings with counter-attacking batting, and for a moment it appeared to work, but an ill-fated inside-edge resulted in Talha Hayat's departure, making it very evident that maybe, it just isn't Pakistan's day. Three deliveries after Hayat's dismissal, Rizvi holed out against Chris Fredriksson as Pakistan continued their slump. Wickets continued to fall almost unstoppably for Pakistan, despite a commendable show of resistance by Adam Youhana and Kabir Khan Durrani, as the unbeaten Pakistanis were bowled out for a measly 102 in no time.

With a straightforward task at hand, Danish openers Chris Mattsson and Niels Hjort excelled with flying colours to give Denmark their biggest win in ODI cricket, chasing the 103-run target without any losses to complete a 10-wicket trouncing of Pakistan in the biggest match of either nation's history. Pakistan, who remained unbeaten during the group stage, were brought back down to earth with their wings melted off as the Danes secured a semifinals qualification against India in Christchurch.

 

[World Cricket Conference]

Super-charged Niue and World No. 1s Canada collide in first semifinal
Canada, for all intents and purposes, are the best team in the world. They are two-time winners of the Americas Championship, reigning Nations League winners and the No. 1 ranked side in both, Test and ODI cricket. Winning the World Cup would only be the cherry on top.​

Roger Khan signs autographs for fans following Canada's quarter-final win © Associated Press, December 19, 2003​

PREVIEW: SEMI-FINAL 1​

When the World Cup began over a month ago, almost every sane cricketing mind would've predicted Canada, the No. 1 team in ODI cricket, to at least be in the final four of the tournament, but perhaps despite the home advantage, very few would've thought that Niue would make it out of the group of death, let alone be in the final four as well. But such is the beauty of this sport, it is the great leveller, where on your day, you can best even the absolute best the sport has to offer.

And that encapsulates Niue's World Cup campaign perfectly. Even after being blown out of the water in their opening game against Qatar, Niue pulled through and registered crucial wins over Vanuatu, Denmark and Guernsey to qualify for the quarter-finals, where they met South Africa, who they also beat to set-up this match.

Now that they've made it into the last stretch of the tournament, going up against Canada and the winners of the India-Denmark semifinal will take some doing, even for a super-charged Niuean side. Canada, for all intents and purposes, are the best team in the world. They are two-time winners of the Americas Championship, reigning Nations League winners and the No. 1 ranked side in both, Test and ODI cricket. Winning the World Cup would only be the cherry on top.

Canada have played three games so far, with their matches against Wales and Bermuda being washouts. In their three matches, they did lose once to India, but it had more to do with Vikas Samant having an exceptional outing all on his own more than the Indians outright besting the Canadians. Vikas Samant's individual brilliance proved too good for Canada, the very same Canada that steamrolled the Arab Cup winners Saudi Arabia in a must-win contest in the last completed match of the group. With such a pedigree and form behind both of these teams, fans, Niuean, Canadian or neutral can expect an absolute barnburner between these two sides as a super-charged Niuean side takes on the best team in the world, Canada, in the first semifinal of the Cricket World Cup.