I. India vs Afghanistan
Key features –
1. Virat Kohli was the lone player with a strike rate of more than 100 scoring 67(63) after the loss of Rohit early on.
2. Kedar Jadhav finally returned back to form with the bat being the second half centurion of the match scoring 52(68).
3. Every bowler of Afghanistan struck atleast one wicket each showing a collective effort of all the bowlers including Rahmat Shah.
4. Mohammad Nabi gave a perfect fighting knock till the end scoring a 52(55) taking the match to a nail-biting finish.
5. Mohammad Shami played his first game in World Cup 2019 and becomes the first hattrick taker of this tournament bowling a spell of 4/40(9.5).
Post-Match Analysis –
1. India, though disappointed with the bat, fortunately have continued their winning momentum in this World Cup to be unbeaten with 9 points in 5 games, inching a step closer towards the playoffs.
2. Every batsman of Afghanistan played a test match innings until Nabi entered the pitch, which actually was the main reason to increase Afghanistan’s difficulty in chasing even a low total of just 225.
3. Jasprit Bumrah once again was the bowler to turn the game around to India’s favour picking up the set batsmen Rahmat and Shahidi in a span of 3 deliveries itself.
4. India is now positioned 3rd with 9 points in 5 games. They play West Indies next which is after 5 days. They just have to win another game in their next 4 to book a berth in the playoffs alongside New Zealand and Australia, who also are almost in.
5. Afghanistan are still point-less and win-less in this tournament after 6 games and are still at the same position continuing their consistency of their unfortunate losing streak even though they’ve not been performing badly. They play their next game against Bangladesh day after tomorrow, a must win for the Tigers if they want to keep their playoff chances alive.
II. New Zealand vs West Indies
Key Features –
1. Kane Williamson scored 148(154) which, though was a slow innings, but was much important after the loss of Munro and Guptill for a golden duck each. Ross Taylor supported him in a partnership of 160 runs for the 3rd wicket and scored 69(95) himself.
2. Sheldon Cottrell was the pick of the bowlers being the only seamer to pick wickets of the Kiwi batsmen until Brathwaite bowled the last three deliveries of the innings. Cottrell ended up with a spell of 4/58(10).
3. Chris Gayle back into form with a score of 87(84). He built a strong partnership of 122 alongside Shimron Hetmeyer who scored a quick 54(45). On the contrary, Trent Boult and Lockie Ferguson were the pick of the bowlers picking up crucial wickets at crucial moments to lead New Zealand to a comfortable victory. Their spells were 4/30(10) and 3/59(10) respectively.
4. Carlos Brathwaite proved his worth with both bat and ball showing his all round abilities after a very long time. He bowled a spell of 2/52(6) and scored an almost match-winning knock of 101(82).
5. A match-winning over by James Neesham in the 49th over bowling 00200W to get Brathwaite’s wicket and most importantly the final wicket of the Windies leading themselves straight to the playoffs with their unbeaten streak!
Post-Match Analysis –
1. New Zealand become the first team to officially qualify for the playoffs with 11 points in 6 matches, continuing their unbeaten winning streak. On the contrary, West Indies, again after an amazing start in the initial overs with the ball, choking later on letting the Kiwis take their total to a 291 and losing the game with Lewis injured, and Hope and Pooran falling early on in the innings.
2. West Indies are also officially eliminated from the tournament with just 3 points in 6 games and now since Russell is also injured, they wouldn’t risk him further to play matches, so expect his World Cup journey over for this season.
3. New Zealand move to the top of the points table yet again with 11 points (5 Wins and 1 N/R) in their 6 matches with the Windies still on the 7th position with just 3 points (1 win, 4 losses and 1 N/R) in 6 matches.
4. New Zealand play their next fixture against Pakistan. On the contrary, West Indies play their next against India after 5 days.
5. Three nail-biting encounters in two days. Wow! What a day with some out of form players coming back into form and the all rounders of all three, Afghanistan (Mohammad Nabi), England (Ben Stokes), and West Indies (Carlos Brathwaite) taking the match to a close and almost won it for their teams, but ending up in a loss unfortunately.
Up Next –
Pakistan vs South Africa
The two Green jerseyed teams take on each other in tomorrow’s battle with the known fact that both teams have been logically eliminated from the tournament.
Pakistan on one hand defeated England, the favourites, but still placed 9th with that as their only win. On the other hand, South Africa face a similar problem in terms of winning games and they also have only 1 win in their 6 games and that too against Afghanistan.
South Africa is ranked 4th in the ICC ODI Rankings and Pakistan is ranked 6th in the same, hence South Africa are the favourites for the battle tomorrow, even though their current form shows an even battle between the two and that the contest tomorrow would be worth watching and should not be one-sided to say the least.
South Africa’s biggest concern has been injuries. Starting from Dale Steyn being ruled out, then Lungi Ngidi’s unavailability, Faf’s poor form and dependency on all rounders in the likes of Phehlukwayo, Morris and Pretorius.
Pakistan, on the other hand, has had ups and downs with both bat and ball. You only see one batsman and one bowler taking charge in every game which actually are Babar Azam and Mohammad Amir respectively. They need some teammates to support them and even take charge if they want to win matches instead of individual performances in every game.
Probable XIs –
PAK – Fakhar, Imam, Babar, Hafeez, Sohail, Sarfaraz, Imad, Shadab, Wahab, Hasan, Amir
SA – De Kock, Amla, Markram, Faf, Dussen, Miller, Phehlukwayo, Morris, Rabada, Ngidi, Tahir
Possible Replacements –
1. Shoaib Malik has been out of form and can be replaced by Haris Sohail considering the fact that Asif Ali might not be available for selection since he could’ve gone back to Pakistan for some family concerns.
2. NONE for SA unless Duminy comes into the team in place of Markram/Miller which is unlikely but possible.
Analysis of various cricket matches 