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The preliminaries of the World Cup will be coming to a close today, with only two supporting fights in which Pakistan is also involved, set to be played at Edingburg and on the Northants grounds. Whatever may have been the pre-tournament ratings and prognosis of William Hill and the Ladbrokes only two combinations, the redoubtable South Africa, having all-round potentialities to demolish adversaries, and Pakistan with their mighty bowling armoury, have attained success in their respective combats and have played with the stern resolution so much needed in global tournaments.

Regretfully Pakistan's upper order batting has appeared frail and brittle. One will have to concede the viewpoint of the commentators and the critics that the Pakistani batsmen have been failing to adjust to the turning strips in England. Maybe because they could not get the required practice; two warmup matches were washed out, the third one was given up at the halfway stage when the rain came down in torrents. However, the truth is that the lineup has no genuine opener to give company to Saeed Anwar. His association with Shahid Afridi should be taken as only a makeshift arrangement. Nevertheless, the latter's shunting to the pavilion and exclusion from the fixture was neither justifiable nor successful, seeing that Wajahatullah Wasti refused to come out of his shell in a one-dayer in which brisk and bright cricket should be the rule and order. The Australian new-ball bowlers, with their mingling of pace and length, bothered and tormented him. The result was an early break-through which forced the incoming batsmen to strain their nerves to keep the rather dangerous Australian seamers at bay. One thought Afridi should have been retained in the Australian tie to exhibit his adventurous strokeplay and his new-found sense of doggedness. The preference of Wasti over the reliable and experienced Aamir Sohail, it is now quite obvious, was a decision devoid of logic and certainly against the team's interest.

Inzamamul Haq's heavy assault on the Australian bowlers, with technical refinements in batting, was a pleasant surprise for it announced his return to full form and a confidence which was reminiscent of his courage and fluency of 1992 when Pakistan had touched the peak under Imran's helmsmanship. The media has been critical of Inzamam's slow running between the wickets. Twice he was involved in mixups; Abdul Razzaq escaped in an Australian fielding confusion but Yousuf Youhana fell victim to Inzamam's lethargy. The bulky and hefty batsman was himself run out after getting a toe injury when captain Wasim had raced to his end. According to statisticians he had been run out 29 times in his cricketing career. While the scribes want him to remove this flaw in his run-making the chroniclers, rather comically, point out that Denis Compton, one of the greatest stylist batsmen of England, cared a hoot about developing an understanding with his partner at the other end. Inzamam may be a poor runner but are the other national batsmen and pairs not guilty of the same error and fault? The South Africans are exceptionally good at taking quick singles but the West Indians, the English batsmen and even the Indians are sharp runners.

Among successful scorers from the Pakistan side Youhana has lived up to the expectations of his admirers in this country and the large number of expatriates in England. With an unmistakable show of class he had been making a healthy contribution to his team's total from Pakistan's inaugural contest against the West Indies.

Pakistan had usually been making a late charge in the batting order, there is no one-down player. For reasons better known to the captain and the cricket manager Abdul Razzaq is being used as a No 3 batsman. There are hardly full-blooded strokes in him, apart from pushes and cuts. In his support perhaps the 60 in the match against Australia may be pointed out. But Razzaq made only six in his first 12 overs spoiling the run-rate. Later there was an improvement and even a sixer from the cunning spinner, Shane Warne, was hit. It will be much better to give the one down batting spot to Ijaz or Inzamam and push the young Razzaq to the lower order for he is an enthusiastic medium-pacer, with swings and yorkers and he had been picking up wickets.

One finds that Moin Khan's abilities as a batsman have not been properly recognised by the team officials for it is an injustice to send him so low in the batting line. The way he farmed the Aussie bowling and plundered 31 runs in just 12 balls was cricket played in the true limited-overs spirit. Why cannot the batting arrangement be reviewed considering his consistent dash and adventure with the willow?

The Pakistani squad is lucky not to have received the English tabloids' flak, apart from minor incidents like the misdemeanour of the speedster, Shoaib Akhtar. An umpire's error, especially in important globally-rated contest, is a normal occurrence and should not be taken seriously. After all, later he beat captain Steve Waugh neck and crop and sent him back to the dressing room.

As a game of glorious uncertainties the cricket carnival witnessed some stunning upsets. The first was the reverse suffered by India at the hands of Zimbabwe, almost a non-entity in the opinion of the speculators. The African minnows did not have even an outside chance to upset the applecart of India, who had only four runs to hit with three wickets intact. The second ball of Henry Olonga, not taken seriously in his first spell, removed Robin Singh, the fourth one shattered the stumps of Srinath and the fifth delivery trapped Prasad to shock the Indian squad and their fans. However, later against Kenya their batsmen, especially Tendulkar with an undefeated 140, scintillated at Bristol. In a crucial needle match they put to sword the Sri Lankan attack and strengthened their position in the battle for Super Six. India's Ganguly and Dravid in their brutal destruction of the Sri Lankan attack set up a world second of 318 for the second wicket.

In what was a neighbourly skirmish New Zealand settled the pretensions of Australia and lowered their World Cup standing. With tight bowling the Australians were restricted to a moderate 213. The New Zealanders, playing sensibly and intelligently outwitted and outplayed the bookies' favourite Australia.

The critics point to the Australians repeating the mistake of their 1992 campaign when they had touched the saturation point of cricket. This year was a busy one for them. For the England fiesta they came straight after a heavy schedule in the Caribbeans. Then Shane Warne, one of their main weapons, has failed to be effective at crucial moments.

It is still not known what were the reasons behind the stumble of New Zealand against the West Indies, after having displayed their resilience against Australia. The former could not go beyond a score of 158. At one stage they were 31 for 4. Their innings folded at 156. The West Indies comfortably crossed the target with the loss of only three wickets.

Sri Lanka's ouster from the World Cup and their crushing defeat at the hands of India came as a big shock to their supporters. As defending champions and stiff fighters of the previous competition much was expected from them. It appears that most of the team members are getting stale and fresh blood is required.

South Africa, as had been assessed before the launch of the contests by the experts of the game, have given magnificent and heady performances. With the strictest of discipline on the field they have been unstoppable. Their batting has faced with assurance the best of the bowling combinations. Their bowlers control and vigour have made them extraordinarily difficult customers. They have no spinners in their set but their tight and persistent work pays the dividend. In batting there is no tail, even the last man shows a free swing of the bat. Even if in a tight spot they have fought their way out with efficient defiance. Against India's 252 they were reduced to 116 for 4; perhaps it was a lost cause. But Lance Klusener cut to size the Indian attack and carried his side to victory to the dismay of the Indians. They confirmed their all-round strength when they sank England for their lowest World Cup total of 103.

So some absorbing matches with close results have already been seen in this seventh World Cup. Perhaps some more thrilling encounters may be witnessed in the Super Six league before the teams start the planning for the semifinals.