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The unceremonious exit of the 1996 World Cup Champions Sri Lanka is a very painful aspect of the first round matches of 1999 World Cup. Sri Lanka were a ghost of their former self and could manage only two wins against Zimbabwe and Kenya. Three times runners up (1979,1983 & 1992) hosts England, after three wins under their belt, lost to India in a do or die battle and were thrown out of the competition.

The unpredictable West Indians had to bow out despite machinations of the Australians to keep the Kiwis out of the Super Six. Their scheme backfired as the black caps overpowered the Scotsmen in a thrilling encounter. Kenya, Scotland and Bangladesh were not favourites to book a place in the second stage but surprisingly enough the ICC Champions brought off two spectacular wins against Scotland and a powerful Pakistan.

Though Pakistan's defeat to Bangladesh did not matter much to the losers because they were already through to the Super Six, it was a tremendous victory for the Bengal Tigers and a major upset in the competition. This has worked as a wakeup call for Pakistan who were reminded not to underestimate an enemy however weak he may appear. For Bangladesh this victory was a much needed shot in the arm for the forward march of cricket which has by now established itself as the most popular game in the country.

The Super Sixes stage gets underway tomorrow with India taking on Australia at The Oval. This is going to be a 'finish unto death.' Both teams start from a scratch as they have no points from the first round. And to reach the semifinals stage they have to win all three matches they are to play. But that will not be possible for both teams. So, one will have to bow out.

India have not only a very strong batting line up on paper but in practice also. They have never scored anything under 200 and are in fact the only team to have scored more than 300 on two occasions. Their 373 against Sri Lanka is still the highest total in this tournament. To the credit of their batsmen goes the four centuries scored by Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly and two consecutive tons by Rahul Dravid. Between Saurav and Rahul they hold the world record of 318 runs for any wicket. Barring Mohanty, Prasad and Srinath, all the other eight can bat competently and that can cause concern for their opponents.

Australia's performance in this World Cup with such a specialist one-day outfit is far from satisfactory. Their batsmen are struggling for runs and bowlers have to be penetrating to dent the strong Indian batting. But the silver lining for them is the sudden return to form by Adam Gilchrist, their main bowler Glenn McGrath and spinner Shane Warne.

Most well-placed in the two groups are Pakistan and, strangely enough, Zimbabwe who have four points each from the first round Pakistan from wins over Australia and New Zealand and Zimbabwe from India and South Africa. So, if these two teams win a match each they will be through to the semis.

New Zealand and South Africa have two points each against Australia and India respectively and will have to win two matches each for a semifinal berth. So all the matches in this round will be crucial for all the six teams. There is hardly any room for complacency for any team and that has been unmistakably proved by Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.

All the six have tasted defeat - Australia, New Zealand, India and Zimbabwe two defeats each while Pakistan and South Africa, the favourites one each.

So it's going to be another nine days of top class cricket. Fasten your seat belt. You are about to take off.