Cricket World Cup: South African Captain AB De Villiers Says Their Main Goal Is To Finish On Top Of Pool B

South African Captain AB de Villiers has said that their main goal is to still finish on top of the teams in Pool B in the continuing 2015 Cricket World Cup. Currently, South Africa is ranked second, with three wins and one loss, in Pool B.

Speaking after South Africa’s win over Ireland on March 3 as reported by Criclife.com, de Villiers has revealed his desire of taking the top spot away from Pool B leader India, which has not lost a match since the tournament began. South Africa will have an opportunity to become the leaders in Pool if India loses against West Indies (March 6), Ireland (March 10) and Zimbabwe (March 14).

“Look, it’s not impossible for us to finish on top of the lock,” de Villiers said. “That’s still our goal.”

According to de Villiers, they first need to keep their focus in the upcoming match against Pakistan and stop thinking about what is going on with other matches. De Villiers also dismissed the thought of potential showdown with one of the tournament hosts, Australia, in the quarterfinals. The world’s top-ranked batsman said that he is open to the idea of playing any team in the quarterfinals and added that the squad will be racing forward to undertake all obstacles set in their path once they reached the last eight.

South Africa won their opening match by 62 runs against Zimbabwe on Feb. 15. The squad faced Pool B leader India on Feb. 22 but lost by 130 runs. South Africa bounced back from the intimidating defeat by battering the West Indies (won by 257 runs) on Feb. 27 in Sydney and Ireland (won by 201 runs) on March 3. They will play Pakistan at Eden Park in Auckland on March 7. Their final pool match will be against United Arab Emirates at Wellington Regional Stadium in Wellington on March 12.

LATEST CRICKET WORLD CUP STANDINGS (Points, Win-Loss-No Result)

Pool A

New Zealand (8, 4-0)

Sri Lanka (6, 3-1)

Bangladesh (3, 1-1-1)

Australia (3, 1-1-1)

Afghanistan (2, 1-2)

England (2, 1-3)

Scotland (0, 0-3)

Pool B

India (6, 3-0)

South Africa (6, 3-1)