They carry four valuable points into the next round, and ironically South Africa, toppers of Group A, carry through only two. If Zimbabwe can win just one of their three matches in `Super Six' it may be enough to get through to the semi finals. I cannot, however, see Zimbabwe beat Pakistan or Australia, but maybe they can get that elusive win over New Zealand.

Zimbabwe started the competition at odds of 250/1 of winning the World Cup, and now they are at 20/1. Allrounder Neil Johnson has been their outstanding player with two `Man of the Match' awards, but Grant Flower has been one of themore successful opening batsmen of the tournament with 151 runs. They have been very aggressive in the field and their determination to succeed is to be admired, but it would be an unbelievable if they were to go all the way.

Despite the hiccup against Zimbabwe, South Africa were certainly the best in the group. Their batting however, has not been convincing but their bowling has been effective and fielding, as ever, superb. There is a feeling that their bowlers are good enough to restrict any team or bowl them out, no matter what runs they have behind them.

Lance Klusener has been outstanding. He has consistently put his team into winning situations, and has deservedly been `Man of the Match' on three occasions. He has not been dismissed in the tournament while scoring swashbuckling 164 runs and capturing 13 wickets. I would expect South Africa to beat New Zealand and Australia, but lose to Pakistan in the `Super Six'.

India dug deep when it mattered most and defeated England handsomely. They startedthe tournament rather slowly losing to South Africa and Zimbabwe, but have since grown in confidence, form and look like being worthy contenders.

The batting of Rahul Dravid and Saurav Ganguly has been outstanding - both are the top two run scorers in the competition with 369 and 342 runs respectively. Sachin Tendulkar is ready to strike and make a big impact in the `Super Six', but the middle order has yet to fire. The fielding at best has been good and will need improvement, but the real bonus has been the performance of the bowlers who have kept India alive in the competition. Srinath and Prasad as expected have done their job, Kumble has been outstanding, but it is the part time bowlers, Robin Singh and Ganguly who have made significant contributions. Mohanty has made the most of his opportunities with some good reward for his competitive wicket taking bowling. India will have to work very hard to reach the semi-finals because they take no points into the 'Super Six'. Pakistan and Australia will be hardto beat and even New Zealand will give India a good game.

Sri Lanka, the current World champions, as expected were always going to find it hard in English condition to be successful, more so when their top order batting failed game after game on seaming pitches. Most of the top order batsmen failed with Aravinda de Silva being the biggest disappointment. The Jayasuyria - Kaluwitharana combine never worked. The Sri Lankan fielding was at best average and only Muralitharan proved to be a real success with the ball. Chaminda Vaas and Wickramasinghe had their moments with the ball, but there was generally a lack of support.

England's demise was self inflicted. They beat a struggling Sri Lanka, an inferior Kenya and a Zimbawean team that had an off day. When they needed to beat India and South Africa, they were left wanting. The squad selections and final playing elevens for English conditions were way off the mark. Surely they would have known the white ball was going to be dominant in May and that battingstrength in the middle order was going to crucial?

Mullally was the bowler of the tournament, Gough tried hard and some of the part time bowlers were successful. If the ball was going to dominate as it did, they needed four quality fast bowlers instead of three part timers to bowl oppositions out more cheaply.

They also needed to pick a specialist number six and a better number seven batsman. The expectation that Andrew Flintoff, inexperienced at international level, could be a `Botham' at 21, put him under enormous pressure. The failure of the top order, with the exception of Nasser Hussain did not help England's cause. A lot more was expected from Stewart, Hick, Thorpe and Fairbrother but the middle order with only 21 runs from three players in five innings was the weak link.

The Kenyans enjoyed the experience but did not find the cold weather to their liking. The upset of 1996 did not happen again. But they entertained, with the highlight being a `Man of the Match' innings of 82 by Maurice Odumbeagainst Sri Lanka. Thomas Odoyo was their best performed player with 117 runs and also their leading wicket taker with seven wickets at an average of 34. The Kenyans lacked bowling firepower, but they were able to score over 200 runs in four of the five innings.