Of the four first round groups D is the one which offers the most obvious opportunity for being labeled a Group of Death. The current ICC rankings and previous tournament details show why.
| Nation | Rank | Previous Tournament |
|---|---|---|
| South Africa | 7 | Super12 |
| Sri Lanka | 8 | Super12 |
| Bangladesh | 9 | Super12 |
| Netherlands | 15 | Super12 |
| Nepal | 17 | DNQ |
While Nepal, at only their second T20 world cup, and for the first time in 10 years, are positioned to be the groups whipping boys, the other four teams will all be hopefull of progressing as they did last time round.
With only two able to do that there will be close fought tactical games.
Of the four teams hoping to progress Netherlands are the obvious outsiders being a non-test playing nation. That being said they have beaten both Bangladesh and South Africa in T20 matches.
Bangladesh have never beaten South Africa in a T20, in 8 matches, and are only at a 30% win rate against Sri Lanka. They will be hoping to alter those statistics in this tournament.
Sri Lanka are previous tournament winners and, if any of them believe in portents, will be glad of Nepal's qualification as it was the last time they were in the competition that Sri Lanka won it.
South Africa will also have a mind on the 2014 competition. It was the last time they progressed beyond the Super Group stage. For such a significant cricketing nation it is surprising they have only twice managed to make it as far as a semi-final in the competition.
While the expectation could be for South Africa and Sri Lanka to progress this is the group where net run rate will have the biggest affect on how things go, and any weather disruption will leave little room for affected teams to bounce back.
The Group play matches in the USA, St Vincent, and St Lucia
With things being so close I'm struggling to figure out how the group may go, however South Africa have had a strong run in so my best guess at present is:
**South Africa
Bangladesh
Sri Lanka
Netherlands
Nepal **
and, with that, we are done with the groups.
The first game is today (well, tomorrow my time). Tomorrow will be the first post with game details.
text by stuartcturnbull. graphic by Mir Rammez Raja & edited by stuartcturnbull via postermywall