Pakistan end Australia's 12-year unbeaten run as England dramatically avoid elimination

The group stage came to an end in dramatic fashion as England somehow escaped elimination in Group B after a remarkable run of matches, with West Indies also scraping through. But it was in Group A where the headline result came, as Australia’s decade of invincibility was brought to a halt by a brilliant Pakistan side.

Pakistan ended Australia’s remarkable 34-match unbeaten run at ODI World Cups with a blistering bowling performance in Colombo. Australia, going for their fourth consecutive World Cup title, were rocked by a brilliant collective display from Pakistan’s six-strong attack, with Umar Gul taking 3/30 and Abdul Razzaq 2/8 as the Aussies were held to 176 all-out in 46.4 overs. It was the reigning champions’ lowest total at a World Cup since 1992 and a real wake-up call ahead of the knockout stages.

Brett Lee had Pakistan wobbling in their reply, but his 4/28 wasn’t enough and Razzaq hit the winning runs with nine overs to spare. The result had huge implications, and not just in removing Australia’s air of invincibility. The win secured top spot in the group for Pakistan, and put the Aussies on course for a crunch meeting with India in the last-eight.

England’s astonishing World Cup continued as they kept their qualification hopes alive with a remarkable win over the West Indies. A stuttering batting display saw England limp to 243 all-out, with Jonathan Trott top-scoring with 47. The West Indies looked to be cruising at 113/3 with just 17 overs gone.

England then took the pace off the ball as Graeme Swann, James Tredwell and Ravi Bopara tied things down in the middle overs, but it still looked like being a cakewalk for the West Indies with the score at 222/6 with the best part of nine overs remaining and only 21 more runs required.

But England’s slow bowlers produced a remarkable conclusion as four wickets fell for just three runs in 21 balls as the West Indies were bowled out for 225, still 18 runs short of the target. Swann finished with 3/36, Tredwell 4/48 and Bopara 2/22 as England somehow put themselves into a position where they could yet qualify from Group B.

Bangladesh’s chances of qualifying ahead of England or the West Indies disappeared in Dhaka as they collapsed to 78 all-out against South Africa.

A win would have seen Bangladesh reach the quarter-finals, but they were always up against it when South Africa racked up 284/8 in the first innings. The home crowd at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium knew that it was an uphill struggle from such a position, but the nature of Bangladesh’s collapse was a tough final showing from a team who had brought so much to the competition with excellent wins over England, Ireland and the Netherlands.

Captain Shakib Al Hasan was the only Bangladeshi batter to reach double figures, with Robin Peterson taking 4/12 and Lonwabo Tsotsobe tearing through the top order with 3/14. It was a sad end to their tournament for Bangladesh, and the result also confirmed England as qualifiers for the quarter-finals.

Joint hosts Sri Lanka had looked one of the stronger sides throughout the group stage, and they underlined that form with both bat and ball in impressive fashion with a convincing win over New Zealand.

A 145-run partnership between Kumar Sangakkara (111) and Mahela Jayawardene (66) saw Sri Lanka recover from 19/2 to post a defendable 256/9 on a tricky pitch. And the Sri Lankan spinners ripped through the New Zealand side in reply, bowling them all out for 153 in 35 overs.

Muttiah Muralitharan did much of the damage, finishing with 4/25, but Ajantha Mendis and Tillakaratne Dilshan also did an expert job tying things down, finishing with 2/24 and 1/24 respectively off six overs apiece.

Pakistan finished top of Group A thanks to their stunning win over Australia, while Sri Lanka also carried impressive form into the knockout stages with a net run rate of 2.582 – comfortably the highest in the group. Zimbabwe, Canada and Kenya failed to qualify for the quarter-finals.

• Zimbabwe 151/7 (39.4 overs) vs Pakistan 164/3 (34.1 overs) – Pakistan won by seven wickets via D/L method
• Canada 211 vs Australia 212/3 (34.5 overs) – Australia won by seven wickets
• Sri Lanka 265/9 vs New Zealand 153 – Sri Lanka won by 112 runs
• Australia 176 vs Pakistan 178/6 (41 overs) – Pakistan won by four wickets
• Zimbabwe 308/6 vs Kenya 147 – Zimbabwe won by 161 runs

England and the West Indies snuck into the knockout stages by the skin of their teeth ahead of Bangladesh, with Ireland also not far behind in a competitive Group B. South Africa finished top ahead of India, with the Proteas also possessing the highest net run rate out of the seven teams (2.026). The Netherlands joined Bangladesh and Ireland in exiting the competition, despite all three producing some outstanding performances during the group stage.

• Netherlands 160 vs Bangladesh 166/4 – Bangladesh won by six wickets
• South Africa 272/7 vs Ireland 141 – South Africa won by 131 runs
• England 243 vs West Indies 225 (44.4 overs) – England won by 18 runs
• Netherlands 306 vs Ireland 307/4 (47.4 overs) – Ireland won by six wickets
• South Africa 284/8 vs Bangladesh 78 – South Africa won by 206 runs
• India 268 vs West Indies 188 – India won by 80 runs