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After a weekend of games in which the loser has often been all but out we now get to crunch time. Yesterday India gave up on the tournament entirely as Chris Gayle fired and the West Indies stayed alive. The Indian batting was comically exposed against the short ball and despite an attempted meltdown by Kemar Roach in the penultimate over they never got close. In the later game we had the pleasure of Iain O'Brien joining us on the sofa to watch Australia murder Sri Lanka. Cameron White rescued his team from a tricky situation as he built an innings and exploded in the last four overs, even Malinga couldn't slow him and Hussey down. We were sustained by lolly cake and Anzac biscuits as Jayawardene failed for the first time in the tournament and Sri Lanka failed with him.

In the West Indies game Bravo did all he could to get involved despite getting out for 1. He brilliantly ran out Dhoni just as he was getting going, caught a catch and took a wicket in the final over but his points total of 31 was just short of the 34.5* line I had the over on. Dilshan confounded me by scoring 20 (the top score in the Sri Lankan innings!) whilst I had him under 19.5!

First up today are Pakistan and South Africa, both fighting for their lives. A win for Pakistan and a loss for New Zealand would send them through despite their disappointing form so far and equally South Africa also need a NZ loss with a win to go through. Unsuprisingly South Africa are big favourites for this game and hopefully they won't choke (...ahem...) against one of the weakest sides remaining in the tournament. With South Africa's strong opening attack I like the under on Pakistan's opening partnership at 19.5 on CricketBetLive. I also like either side on the over for the 1st innings total. Pakistan's line is 156.5 and South Africa's a full 10 runs higher at 166.5 but the Gros Islet pitch has proved high scoring so far in the tournament with average first innings score of 183 if you exclude Afghanistan.

For the second game New Zealand will be seeking a win against England which should send them through to the semi-finals provided South Africa don't hammer Pakistan. England are less concerned as they can only go out if they get destroyed by New Zealand and South Africa get a big win. England are without Pietersen so Ravi Bopara will probably get an outing at the top of the order but with other batsmen firing that isn't a huge concern. I like Yardy to go over his player performance line of 25.5* at CricketBetLive. He's taken two wickets in each of England's last games against strong opposition (South Africa & Pakistan) and may get a chance with the bat.

Top pick today is Yardy > 25.5 points. Good luck.

* 20 points per wicket, 1/run, 10/catch, 25/stumping

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