Afghani assault & Aussie ham-handedness

Just when we were wondering if this edition of the World Cup will ever wake up from a slumber, Afghanistan has just produced a win for the ages beating the defending champions comprehensively. Yes, read that again to believe it.

Afghanistan’s spin trio were always going to pose some threat to the teams but this win was set up by a swashbuckling Gurbaz who breathed fire on his way to 80 off just 57 balls. Mujeeb, Nabi and Rashid then took over to trap the England batters into a web that they could never come out of. Harry gave them a glimmer of hope for a brief while but that was really that to take away with. Now imagine what Afghanistan would do in their next two matches against New Zealand and Pakistan at Chennai which traditionally favors spin. Suddenly, the World up is up and running.

This is now England’s second loss in three matches with the first one coming against New Zealand and that was quite a thrashing as well. They have looked flat and bereft of spirit so far almost to indicate that their daredevilry and adventurous game play is only meant for flat decks. Their only win came against Bangladesh where Dawid Malan showed why he is highly rated in limited overs with a chancy ton. This was after England brought in Reece Topley for Moeen Ali and that proved immensely as the tall left hander picked up four wickets. He should have ideally played the first match in place of Woakes or Curran as he’s got more variations and is a natural wicket taker. But England’s tendency to pack their side with all-rounders meant that they left him out.

New Zealand on the other hand would be chuffed to bits winning three on a trot. The manner of their wins would have pleased them to bits with different heroes stepping up in all three games. Their only unfortunate moment came in against Bangladesh where Kane Williamson, returning after a long hiatus, got injured with a throw smashing onto his thumb at the non strikers’ end. He is now out for the group stages at least. However, it’s not like they looked any less threatening without him, for, Tom Latham has stepped up and they have looked a well-oiled machine with absolute clarity of role for everyone coming in. Their opener, Devon Conway, embodies New Zealand in every way there is with his understated yet efficient demeanour as he quietly went about getting the first century of this World Cup. Rachin, named after the eclectic mix of Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar by his father who was a big fan of the duo, notched his maiden century as well against England. New Zealand also doubled up their win by thrashing Netherlands in Hyderabad where Santner, another understated performer, picked up his second 5-fer to restrict the Dutch to 223 after having helped his team to get to 322 with a quick fire 36 off 17.

India, much like New Zealand, have also won three out of three with their latest win coming against their arch rivals Pakistan in what was the most hyped encounter yet. However, much like the previous seven World Cup affairs, this match once again proved why the hype is only outside the ground with Pakistan getting bundled out for less than 200. For all the talk about Indian batting and their star machinery, it is their bowling that has set up the matches in every single game.

Against Australia, Jadeja and Kuldeep bewildered the Aussies on a spicy track. Bumrah weaved his usual magic on a flat pitch in Delhi against Afghanistan and followed it up with a stunning performance against Pakistan. His nip backer to Rizwan was one for the ages. Welcome back, Bumrah. On the batting front, the top 5 have stepped up on different occasions with Rohit Sharma leading from the front with his aggressive display. |

KL Rahul has turned up big time with his batting and glove work as well. This World cup so far has been centuries and records galore. We have already seen 12 hundreds in 13 matches and if the trend continues this world cup might see the record for the most number of centuries in a single edition. The world cup looks like it has come to the party now.