The
2019 Cricket World Cup has been an inevitable slow-burner. With all ten nations
playing each other, it has taken three weeks to reach the stage where big names
are facing the certainty of an early plane home, or even possibly an unexpected
short-term contract with a county.
It
hasn’t helped that so many fixtures have been so one-sided. My three live
experiences at Cardiff have been enjoyable but really could have been enhanced
by much closer encounters of a cricketing kind. New Zealand made short work of
Sri Lanka, Roy, Buttler et al plastered the Bangladesh spinners for an array of
sixes then Afghanistan predictably succumbed to South Africa.
Thank
goodness for some surprises elsewhere. The West Indians’ pace dealt Pakistan an
early blow, Bangladesh creamed an unassailable 330-6 off South Africa then even
England’s cruise towards the semis hit a rock as Pakistan bounced back but
still an exciting finale was lacking.
Rain
caused some disappointing washouts and abandonments, particularly at Bristol,
and robbed us of the intriguing India v New Zealand contest. The much-anticipated
India-Pakistan fixture was also affected by the wet stuff, as well as the
latter’s inability to shackle Rohit Sharma. However, when the British weather improved,
so did the tournament, even if the big four threatened to run away with it. In
just two days we had some crackers.
On
the longest day at Headingley, England’s seemingly infallibility when batting second
was severely dented by Sri Lanka. Nice to see Lasith Malinga finding some of
his old magic as they triumphed by 20 runs. At Southampton the following day,
Afghanistan’s spinners choked India so hard that their target was a distinctly
manageable 225. They didn’t quite manage it, of course, thanks largely to the
nous of Bumrah and Shami’s final over hat-trick, but we neutrals revelled in
the excitement of a near-shock. Meanwhile, some lusty blows by Chris Gayle and
an extraordinary century by Carlos Brathwaite so nearly rescued the Windies
against the Black Caps, for whom Kane Williamson batted so beautifully.
With
teams having just two or three matches left to play, the top four placings are
not yet decided. As in the last World Cup, New Zealand have demonstrated their
undoubted class slightly beneath the radar. At the time of writing they are
unbeaten, as are Virat Kohli’s India and each muct surely reach the semi-finals.
I wasn’t sure how Australia would fare in the aftermath of the Warner-Smith
bans. However, they have been almost England-esque in their run accumulations,
with David Warner and Aaron Finch striking some stunning scores, and are almost
home and dry.
So
what about England? With the exception of the Sri Lanka debacle, they have been
passing 300 with impressive regularity. Sixes have come right down the order,
and Eoin Morgan’s blitz against Afghanistan was particularly brutal.
Intriguingly their final three games come against their three closest rivals, beginning
with the Aussies, followed by India at Edgbaston and then NZ. I reckon they’ll
win at least two of them but even so I can’t see the planets aligning so
perfectly that one of the other pretenders such as Pakistan or even Bangladesh
could disturb the status quo.
What
have I learnt so far? Well, batsmen were always likely to be on top, but who
would have predicted Shakib al-Hasan would have been top of the run charts?
Jofra Archer and Mark Wood have been the most devastating bowling partnership
as the short ball has proved the most effective bowling weapon of the
tournament. Imran Tahir, Rashid Khan and co may yet have a say in proceedings
but for certain neither SA nor Afghanistan will be raising the trophy this
year. Faf du Plessis’ men have been out of sorts in most areas. Their batting
line-up was already weaker than it’s been for a long time and their one true
global star Hashim Amla, has scratched around for runs, even against the
Afghans.
I’m
sure there’ll be more twists and turns in the coming weeks but it looks likely
that the ICC will get the top four it wanted, and that India-England final
remains a distinct possibility.
