The 2019 World Cup is underway and the hosts lived up to the billing by defeating South Africa in the opening game. It is going to be a long haul for all the teams as they will have to play as many as nine matches to make it to the knockout stage. Consistency will be key for them even as the cricket experts have put their prediction hats on. Brendon McCullum has also joined the list now and has predicted the outcomes of the league stage.
According to a note in his diary, England and India will be the top two sides at the end of the league stage of the competition. McCullum thinks the home side will lose to Australia and beat all the other teams while the Men in Blue will lose only one game to England. The former Kiwi cricketer also went on to back Afghanistan to be at the seventh position after nine matches with two wins over Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Brendon McCullum, on his official Instagram account, posted the prediction. He believes that Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will only manage to win a solitary match. Interestingly, he feels that the Islanders will get better of the Windies and lose to rest of the sides, while Bangladesh's only win will come against Sri Lanka.
As for the semifinalists apart from India and England, McCullum feels that Australia will be the third to go through with six wins and three losses to Windies, India and Pakistan. Another interesting prediction from the 37-year-old is that there will be a four-way tie for the fourth position between the Windies, Pakistan, South Africa and New Zealand.
"Four teams will fight out the fourth qualifying spot and net run rate will decide who progresses. Rain and luck will likely play a part as well. I hope NZ get that little bit of luck and can qualify. Enjoy the six-week celebration of the best players on the planet," McCullum wrote on Instagram alongside a picture of his predictions.
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