Rohit & co. bring the World Cup to life: the CWC weekly round-up
It feels like the 11 games prior to India v Pakistan were cricket’s equivalent to undercard fights leading up to the big event.
Half-empty stadiums and predictable results epitomised the start of the tournament but the 132,000 fans who filled out the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad changed that.
India’s demolition of Pakistan and a shock Afghanistan victory against England have brought the World Cup to life.
Rohit Sharma will be hoping to return to the Narendra Modi stadium on the 19th November for the final
India’s bowlers put on a show in front of 132,000
As a spectacle, India v Pakistan lived up to the hype.
Any hint of green in the crowd was like a needle in a haystack.
It was a sea of blue and the India players could not send all of those fans home without a win to celebrate.
After all of the build-up, Pakistan posted a disappointing 191 runs for India to chase.
There was hope when they were 155-2 with their star batters, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, at the crease.
But any hope of a competitive score quickly diminished as they lost eight wickets for 36 runs.
India’s bowling attack was exceptional, and Jasprit Bumrah was the pick of the bunch; conceding just 19 runs from his seven overs and picking up two wickets.
In India’s chase, Rohit Sharma, as in the last match against Afghanistan, was the star man. The captain commandingly led India to their 192-run target with 86 off 63 balls.
India’s bowling attack led them to a convincing win
After their comprehensive victory against Afghanistan on Wednesday and this exceptional performance under pressure against Pakistan, India have asserted themselves as strong favourites for the tournament.
Slow starts for Australia and Pakistan
As India lap up the plaudits from their victory, questions are being asked of Pakistan.
In particular, Babar Azam’s captaincy is coming under scrutiny. Babar needs to silence these questions and lead by example; a match winning innings would not be a bad way of going about that.
That will not be easy though, as Pakistan still have Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and England to play.
Babar Azam is bowled by Mohammed Siraj
Whilst for Pakistan there are still positives such as Rizwan’s great form with the bat, and still having two wins from their first three matches, for Australia positives are few and far between.
Their defeat against South Africa was their heaviest ever in a World Cup match. It is also the first time they have lost their opening two games.
They have had two tough opening opponents in India and South Africa, but have lacked fluency with the bat and made sloppy and crucial mistakes in the field.
Australia are not out of the tournament yet, but they can only really afford to lose one more out of their remaining seven games; a tall order.
Marnus Labuschagne’s defiant 46-run innings was not enough for a woeful Australia side
South Africa shine again
Whilst it is important to highlight Australia’s faults, South Africa were, once again, excellent.
With 209 runs in two matches, Quinton De Kock now has the highest runs per match with 104.5.
Playing in his last ODI World Cup, he looks to be on a mission to guide his country to victory.
De Kock was the star against Australia
Their underrated bowling attack was also impressive.
Lungi Ngidi conceded just 18 runs from eight overs and picked up the crucial wicket of David Warner.
Kagiso Rabada, meanwhile, took three wickets from his eight overs, conceding just 33 runs.
Afghanistan stun England in one of the World Cup’s biggest upsets
From their first two performances against Bangladesh and India, Afghanistan did not look like a team who would threaten England very much.
However, after a convincing victory against Bangladesh, any English pre-game talk of net run rate was quickly hushed after Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s impressive 80-run innings for Afghanistan.
An uninspiring bowling performance from England aided Afghanistan to a total of 284, albeit it was a score which was completely attainable for England.
The response was woeful, with England collapsing to a 69-run loss.
It is the first time Afghanistan have ever beaten England in any format, and it will likely be the greatest upset of the tournament.
Questions will be asked of Jos Buttler’s captaincy if England don’t improve
England still have the trump card of Ben Stokes to call upon, it is just a shame that the one most likely to lose his place to Stokes is Harry Brook.
He was the shining light from this dim performance, making 66 off 61 balls.
The champions now need to be close to faultless for the rest of the tournament if they want a place in the semi-finals.
Their middle order and all-rounders need to step up.
New Zealand march on but will have to go without captain Kane
Since their opening day victory against England, New Zealand have two more victories to their name, against the Netherlands and Bangladesh.
Two games which, on paper, they would expect to win.
But whilst other semi-final favourites have stuttered to their victories, New Zealand have looked very convincing.
Captain Kane Williamson’s return from injury was a boost and his contribution to the game winning partnership with Daryl Mitchell was classy.
It is a real shame that he had to retire from his innings early.
We now know that he has fractured his thumb and will be out until near the end of the group stage.
It is a big blow for New Zealand but they have shown against England and the Netherlands that they can cope without him.
