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Week Two Roundup B

With Pakistan the pace-setters in Group B, putting one foot in the semis after their triumph over a tenacious Afghanistan, Group A will be the focus of Saturday's action. England and Australia duel for pole position at the top in the late game, while the morning's clash will see Sri Lanka and South Africa - both with one win to their credit - battle to close the gap and pile pressure onto the loser of the Ashes appetiser. Despite high hopes going into the tournament, Bangladesh have been bodied by three successive defeats, and are now all but certain of elimination, while their most recent vanquishers West Indies retain a slender toehold in the competition. Elsewhere, it's all gone horribly wrong for Scotland, but they've got a few days to get their heads together before the learning curve of top-level cricket resumes against New Zealand in the middle of next week. Fellow minnows Namibia are back in action on Sunday, where they'll try to extend their winning streak against an Afghanistan side who've made great strides in this World Cup.

To judge by the run and wicket charts you'd think that Bangladesh and Sri Lanka were waltzing the World Cup, but some of the real heavyweights are starting to creep up outside the top five, with Pakistan's Haris Rauf taking six wickets in this first week - as did the Afghan spin twins Mujeeb and Rashid Khan - while Rauf's teammate Babar Azam stands poised on 128 runs, eight ahead of the prolific Mohammad Rizwan.

Leading Run-scorers

1. Mahmudullah (BAN) - 150
2. Mohammad Naim (BAN) - 148
3. Mushfiqur Rahim (BAN) - 143
4. Shakib Al Hasan (BAN) - 131
5. Bhanuka Rajapaksa (SRI) - 129


Leading Wicket-takers

1. Shakib Al Hasan (BAN) - 11
2. Josh Davey (SCO) - 9
3. Maheesh Theekshana (SRI) - 8 [for 72]
4. Lahiru Kumara (SRI) - 8 [for 115]
5. Mustafizur Rahman (BAN) - 8 [for 190]