Davids find the going tough:

When Bangladesh and Ireland slayed the sub-continent Goliaths India and Pakistan in their preliminary games, they would have entered the quarters hoping to upset a few more teams to boost their morale.

But they must have realised by now that all teams are aware of the minnows and that Bangladesh or Ireland need to put their best ever performance even if they need to secure two wins in the Quarters. Well they are the proverbial David, but the only difference is that they need to fight six Goliaths and they just don't possess the firepower to beat them .

England vs Ireland:
England beat Ireland, without sweating much, by 48 runs.
England scored scored 266/7 after batting first. Collingwood (90), Pietersen(48), and Flintoff(43) were the main contributors.
Ireland were never in the chase after losing two wickets in the first five overs. Although Neil 'O' Brien(63 runs) scored yet another valuable fifty,and Trent Johnson(27 runs), AR White(38 runs) provided some fireworks in the final overs, it was just not enough as Ireland succumbed by 48 runs. Flintoff starred for England as he took 4 crucial wickets. COllingwood was declared as Man-of-the-Match.

Australia vs Bangladesh:
If England did well, Australia went two steps further as they thrashed Bangladesh by 10 wickets with 8 overs to spare. THe match was shortened to 22 overs per side as the outfield was wet due to overnight rain.
Bangladesh went into bat and they managed to score a decent 104/6.
With such a small total, Bangladesh never had even the slightest chance. They might have aspired to take atleast 3 australian wickets, but that was not to be.
Aussie openers Hayden(47) and Gilchrist(59) launched yet another assault on the hapless Bangladesh bowlers and reached the target with 8 overs to spare.
The match clearly indicated the approach of a Champion side from that of a minnow. Bangladeshis were lucky that it was not a 50 over match, else they would have been thrashed by a even bigger marigin.

Highlight: Mcgrath took 3 wickets,in the process overtook Wasim Akram(Pakistan), to become the highest wicket taker in World Cup history
After seeing the progress of the World CUp so far, i would nominate Australia, South Africa and New Zealand to be the contenders for the World Cup. However Srilanka may just pull one out of the hat to win this one.