Nine out of nine correct! Viral message on WhatsApp claims ICC 2015 World Cup is fixed

New Delhi: When the world's best teams congregate, there ought to be some predictions – who wins and how? Such predictions at times tend to sensationalise the very competition, often giving birth to wild assumptions like claiming the matches have been fixed.

The ongoing 2015 Cricket World Cup is no different. A viral message on WhatsApp is doing the rounds, predicting the outcome of matches and claiming the entire tournament is fixed. And helping this seemingly innocuous claim is the results themselves, and also cricket's past with betting and corruption.

So far, nine matches have been played out in front of record crowd, and all results of these encounters have went the way as they have been predicted in this circular. West Indies' lost to Ireland, India's sixth World Cup win over Pakistan, and New Zealand's win over England a while ago were all predicted.

According to this script, cricket's perennial chokers South Africa will win their maiden world title, defeating Australia in the final. And the teams to qualify for the knock-out stages besides the 'predicted' finalists are defending champions India, Asian heavyweights Sri Lanka and Pakistan, England, New Zealand and Zimbabwe.

For India, after beating Kiwis in the first quarter-final, will lose the semis to Australia.

At the end, it may well prove to be a perfect example of crystal gazing but this claims have made cricketing world jittery for sure.

Following is the list of the match-by-match prediction:

• February 14: New Zealand vs Sri Lanka, winner New Zealand
• February 14: Australia vs England, winner Australia
• February 15: South Africa vs Zimbabwe, winner South Africa
• February 15: India vs Pakistan, winner India
• February 16: Ireland vs West Indies , winner Ireland
• February 17: New Zealand vs Scotland, winner New Zealand
• February 18: Afghanistan vs Bangladesh , winner Bangladesh
• February 19: United Arab Emirates vs Zimbabwe, winner Zimbabwe
• February 20: New Zealand vs England, winner New Zealand
• February 21: Pakistan vs West Indies, winner Pakistan
• February 21: Australia vs Bangladesh, winner Australia
• February 22: Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka, winner Sri Lanka
• February 22: India vs South Africa, winner South Africa
• February 23: England vs Scotland, winner England
• February 24: West Indies vs Zimbabwe, winner West Indies
• February 25: Ireland vs United Arab Emirates, winner Ireland
• February 26: Afghanistan vs Scotland, winner Afghanistan
• February 26: Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka, winner Sri Lanka
• February 27: South Africa vs West Indies, winner South Africa
• February 28: New Zealand vs Australia, winner New Zealand
• February 28: India vs United Arab Emirates, winner India
• March 1: England vs Sri Lanka, winner England
• March 1: Pakistan vs Zimbabwe, winner Pakistan
• March 3: Ireland vs South Africa, winner South Africa
• March 4: Pakistan vs United Arab Emirates, winner United Arab Emirates
• March 4: Australia vs Afghanistan, winner Australia
• March 5: Bangladesh vs Scotland, winner Bangladesh
• March 6: India vs West Indies, winner India
• March 7: Pakistan vs South Africa, winner South Africa
• March 7: Ireland vs Zimbabwe, winner Zimbabwe
• March 8: New Zealand vs Afghanistan, winner New Zealand
• March 8: Australia vs Sri Lanka, winner Australia
• March 9: England vs Bangladesh, winner England
• March 10 India v Ireland India
• March 11 Scotland v Sri Lanka Sri Lanka
• March 12 South Africa v United Arab Emirates South Africa
• March 13 New Zealand v Bangladesh New Zealand
• March 13 Afghanistan v England England
• March 14 India v Zimbabwe Zimbabwe
• March 14 Australia v Scotland Australia
• March 15 United Arab Emirates v West Indies West Indies
• March 15 Ireland v Pakistan Pakistan