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Dimuth Karunaratne and Faf Du Plessis predict the winner of ICC World Cup 2019
Dimuth Karunaratne and Faf Du Plessis predict the winner of ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 and both have different opinions. Tap to find out
Team India ended the group stage of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 as toppers after trashing Sri Lanka by 7 wickets at Headingley on Saturday. For India, Rohit Sharma carried on his brilliant run as he notched up his 5th century of the tournament. With this knock he ended the group stage by topping the batting charts with 647 runs at an average of 92.43. India will now face New Zealand at Manchester on 9th July in the first semifinal.
After the game Sri Lankan skipper Dimuth Karunaratne believed that India are better placed to lift the trophy than other semi-finalists Australia, England and New Zealand.
He said, " I think India has a better chance to win this World Cup, for me, from my point of view. And I think on that particular day if the other team can do better than the India team, they're definitely going to win."
He also heaped praise on Team India and its domestic structure for unearthing young talents consistently.
"I think India, they have a nice structure behind the India national team. I think they have the IPL. They have good domestic teams and a good season. So these are the things they will keep building, keep producing the good players. So we expect the same from our administration."
When asked about Lasith Malinga, the skipper said, "We all want to give him a nice farewell, but unfortunately we couldn't. But I think we tried really hard. But Mali going to play another couple of games in Sri Lanka against Bangladesh. We'll try to give a nice send-off at that time."
On the contrary, South African skipper Faf Du Plessis has predicted that defending champions Australia are the firm favorites to win the coveted trophy for the sixth time.
"I think Australia and India have proven it time and time again. They are the teams that win big games. It's hard to look past Australia and the success they've had in winning World Cup, as much as we would like to say we want to compete with that. The confidence that an Australian team comes into a World Cup is just like an extra player on your team. Australia would probably prefer playing against New Zealand but I would say one of Australia or India."
Upcoming games:
1st Semi-Final: India vs New Zealand at Old Trafford, Machester on 9th July 2019 (Tuesday).
2nd Semi-Final: Australia vs England at Edgbaston, Birmingham on 11th July 2019 (Thursday).
