Friday is showdown time for more than Sri Lanka and New Zealand in Mumbai.
So far this World Cup there have been the usual clutch of upsets and marginal results litter this year's World Cup, not just the Ireland and Bangladesh wins over England, the way the Kiwis manhandled Pakistan, India's bowling being exposed by England in their tied game and South Africa in their outing, where they took on the choker phobia and beat it.
And it seems, much to the chagrin of some critics who love to snipe away at Graeme Smith's side, reminding all of the team's so-called big-event ability to fail when victory is expected. Forgetting, of course, how the team is human and errors in play happen.
In Sri Lanka, there has been more hype about annual big school games than there is about the World Cup. The way it is shaping, there is little to no mention of the quarter and semi-finals of the World Cup are being held in the nation's capital.
Tell a local that Sri Lanka are playing New Zealand in far-off Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium on Friday and it is greeted with a shrug. Even the back of the canopies of the trishaws shouting the pre-event proclamation "It is our cup" have disappeared from the streets.
After the defeat by Pakistan and rained off game against Australia, your usual adherents in the capital have switched off. So too, it seems the local cab jockeys who are touting Australia to beat South Africa in the final.
Yet West Indies are the side in contention for a top quarterfinal ahead of England and their game on Thursday is important to both when they meet. South Africa went past Ireland on the back of some quality World Cup performances on Tuesday and face Bangladesh; the latter, as this tournament has turned out, have not given in to the bigger names without a fight.
In a sense it is a repeat of the Caribbean journey four years ago where they eliminated India to the shock of the millions along with their sponsors and the deep disappointment of Rahul Dravid their captain.
