AMONGST all the madness around the end of the summer of cricket here in Australia, there is still international cricket happening. Currently in New Zealand the Women’s One Day World Cup is going on and it is already up to the semi-final stage.

If you have been too busy to keep up, or would just like a reminder of what has transpired so far, here is a catch-up on all that has transpired.

Now that all the group matches have taken place, the top four teams progress to the semi-finals. Now those top four teams are Australia, South Africa, England and the West Indies.

TEAM-BY-TEAM REVIEW: REVERSE ORDER

Before taking a look at how their campaigns have gone, let us take a look at the four teams whose campaigns have finished. We will go team by team in reverse ladder order, starting with eighth placed Pakistan.

Pakistan

Now Pakistan had a tournament they wold rather forget, winning only the one match for the entire tournament. That win came over the West Indies in a rain-affected match.

They have had up and down results amongst the losses. They lost to New Zealand by only 71 runs and Bangladesh by only nine runs, but they lost England by nine wickets after being bowled out for only 105. Their last three matches alone saw them lose to South Africa by only six runs, Australia by seven wickets and India by 107 runs.

They also finished with a very bad net run rate, at -1.313. That loss to Bangladesh was also the only win for Bangladesh, who finished in seventh.

Bangladesh

Bangladesh often struggle at World Cups, but this was still a tournament that they would rather forget. In ways, the Bangladeshi’s tournament mirrored the one of the Pakistanis.

They had some close losses and some big losses, and they ultimately finished with a bad run rate, but it was slightly better than the Pakistani run rate (-0.999).

New Zealand

Speaking of having a tournament they would rather forget, that statement is no truer of the hosts New Zealand. They would have been hoping and expecting to feature in the back end of the tournament, but have not even made the knockout stage of the tournament.

They were able to beat the other teams around them that did not make finals, but could not beat the teams above them, which was ultimately their undoing.

India

The unluckiest of teams to miss out on the finals is India. Although they won the same number of games as the fourth placed West Indies and had a better run rate than them, one no result to the West Indies was all the difference that kept the Indians out of the finals.

Much like the Kiwis, India would have been hoping and expecting to feature in the back end of the tournament, but will not be this time around.

West Indies

Speaking of the West Indies, they are certainly having a tournament to remember. They haven’t been able to make it far into World Cup tournaments much before, so the fact that they have made the knock out stage is a huge achievement for them.

England

England finished third on the ladder, and their only losses came against their fellow semi finalists, so they will be up against it in the semi-finals. They do have the current tournament leading wicket taker in Sophie Ecclestone, but they need their batters to fire up a bit more.

South Africa

Just above them is South Africa, who have had a stellar tournament thus far. Their only loss thus far came against Australia, so they will head into the knock out stage brimming with confidence. They’re one of the up and coming sides in women’s cricket, so if they can go all the way it would be a huge achievement.

They’ve also got the tournament’s leading run scorer in Laura Wolvaardt and second leading wicket taker for the tournament in Shabnim Ismail, so they will be one to watch heading into the back end of the tournament.

Australia

Finally, that just leaves Australia, who finished top of the standings after the group stage and did not lose a match. Although they have found themselves in some tricky situations this tournament, they have been able to squeeze their way out of them and are probably the favourites at the moment to win the tournament. They were the only team to finish with a net run rate higher than one, and with the likes of Meg Lanning and Rachel Haynes in fine form, coming up against them is a daunting proposition.

So, onto the semi finals it is. They will take place later this week, so stay tuned for our previews of those matches in the coming days.

The two semi finals will see Australia face the West Indies, and South Africa face England.