Thoughts on each match of the 2019 cricket world cup

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Match 1: England vs South Africa

Expected England to win the match but was a little surprised to see the massive margin of victory. The match had the catch of the tournament by Ben Stokes.

Match 2: Pakistan vs West Indies

I was pleasantly surprised by the bouncers they bowled to the Pakistani batsmen and got them all out for 100 odd. I remember this match getting over very quickly and wondering what I should do for the rest of the day.

Match 3: New Zealand vs Sri Lanka

New Zealand were the favourites in this match and they blew the Sri Lankans away for a really low total. This was the only match where the Kiwi openers did well in the tournament.

Match 4: Australia vs Afghanistan

Was supporting Afghanistan, but Australia won easily. Remember Warner doing well in the match despite reports of abuse being hurled at him.

Match 5: Bangladesh vs South Africa

Expected South Africa to win, but Bangladesh batted beautifully with Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib getting big scores. Remember Mahmudullah screwing up slightly at the end of the innings by unsuccessfully trying to hit, but managed to redeem himself by connecting a few eventually. I started to admire van der Dussen in this match. I hope to see him become one of the main stays of this South African batting line-up.

Match: 6 England vs Pakistan

Expected Pakistan to surrender meekly to England in this match after their batsmen were blown away against the short ball barrage by the Windies bowlers in the previous match. Their batting surprisingly came together and put up a huge score. Root and Buttler had a lovely partnership and I was hoping that they would take England across the line, but was disappointed to see both of them get out at crucial junctures of the chase.

Match 7: Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka

I expected Afghanistan to beat Sri Lanka in this match, but they messed up what I felt was the only opportunity they had of toppling one of the test playing nations in the tournament. They bowled really well and got the Lankans out for 201, but messed up the chase.

Match 8: India vs South Africa

It was India’s first match of the tournament and only one team showed up. Talented Mr.Rohit got a flawless hundred. There was some talk from Rabada about Kohli before the match and I expected some spicy moments between them. Nothing happened. Kohli was caught off a lovely catch by de Kock though. India beat South Africa comfortably. There was an emergence of reports that de Villiers spoke to the selectors about wanting to come back to the ODI team and that the selectors did not allow him.

Match 9: Bangladesh vs New Zealand

I somehow do not remember this match at all. Expected New Zealand to win and I just saw the scorecard where it seemed to be tighter than was I expected the match to be.

Match 10: Australia vs West Indies

This was the point I was hoping that the Windies would start making the competition stiffer. They reduced the Aussies to 80 odd for 5. Coulter-Nile played the innings of his life and Smith held the team together. Remember a lovely catch on the boundary taken by Cottrell in this match. Also remember Windies not having a back up plan in case the bouncers failed. The first 5 wickets were through lovely bouncing deliveries, but they did not seem to work against Smith or Coulter-Nile. The Windies were always in the game and I remember Andre Russel getting out trying to hit a six when it was just not needed. His wicket triggered a collapse. Windies should have won and their lack of temperament for anything longer than 20 overs was evidently visible in this game.

Match 11: Pakistan vs Sri Lanka

Gave Sri Lanka no chance in this match and I honestly remember nothing from this game. I just checked and turns out that this match was washed out.

Match 12: England vs Bangladesh

England were the favourites but I wanted to see what Bangladesh could muster against them. Do not remember much in this match. England won.

Match 13: Afghanistan vs New Zealand

Do not remember anything in this match. Expected New Zealand to win easily, and they did. I don’t think I even watched this.

Match 14: Australia vs India

The following set of tweets summarize my feelings:

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We won, and I was very happy. Shikhar Dhawan played one of his best ODI innings and despite a fractured finger, ended up making a century. We lost Dhawan for the rest of the tournament though.

Match 15: South Africa vs West Indies

Critical match for South Africa as they had won nothing so far and I wanted to see how they would perform against a Windies bowling line up that had blown away Pakistan and the top order of Australia. Windies started well by taking out two wickets, but rain intervened and there was no result. I remember the previous encounter between the two team from the world cup in 2015 though.

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Match 16: Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka

Expected Bangladesh to win this easily. Was disappointed to see the match get washed out.

Match 17: Australia vs Pakistan

Supported Australia in the match, who batted first and had a 146 run opening partnership with Warner getting a hundred. The rest of the team added 151 more as Mohammad Amir took a fifer. It was enough as Pakistan surrendered meekly.

Match 18: India vs New Zealand

The match got washed out and the weather started to raise concerns about India’s next match against Pakistan.

Match 19: England vs West Indies

Expected England to win this easily and they did.

Match 20: Australia vs Sri Lanka

Expected a lopsided encounter with Australia winning easily, and they did.

Match 21: Afghanistan vs South Africa

I was rooting for the Afghans in this match. South Africa, despite their recent struggles, thrashed Afghanistan.

Match 22: India vs Pakistan

My most awaited match of the tournament. The rain stayed away during the India innings. Despite Shikhar Dhawan being ruled out of the match, our team looked stronger. Pakistan won the toss and elected to bowl first on a ground where it had rained in the days leading up to the match. Rohit and KL Rahul had an excellent opening partnership and Rohit ended up making 140 odd before playing a silly shot to fine leg and throwing away his wicket. Despite making 300 odd, I felt that we were about 20–30 runs short.

Pakistan made a decent start and we had a moment of bother when Bhuvaneshwar walked off with what looked like a hamstring strain. Vijay Shankar came on to bowl and and will be remembered for the moment he bowled his first ball ever in a World Cup and got Imam ul Haq out LBW. We strolled through the match and won it easily from there on as none of the Pakistani batsman showed any intent to go after the score. The best part of the match was the moment Sarfraz Khan was shown yawning during the match and the subsequent memes that followed. In the aftermath of the match, Shoaib Akhtar’s exasperated reaction on his YouTube channel and the reaction of the Pakistani fans who found out that some players were out till 2a.m. the previous night at a sheesha bar was hilarious to watch.

Match 23: Bangladesh vs West Indies

Expected the Windies to win this after they scored 321 batting first. Shakib Al Hasan played one of the best innings of his career and was supported by Liton Das as they aced the chase. The highlight of the match were the three consecutive sixes Liton Das hit off Shanon Gabriel. Long gone are the horrors of the 2011 World Cup where Bangladesh were skittled out for 58.

Match 24: England vs Afghanistan

Expected England to win easily, and they did. The highlight of the match was Eoin Morgan’s innings where he hit 17 sixes and 4 fours in a 71 ball 148. Morgan now holds the record of the highest number of sixes in an ODI innings.

Match 25: New Zealand vs South Africa

Do or die for South Africa, and I expected New Zealand to win this. It turned out to be a nail biting encounter. South Africa batted first and made 245. New Zealand chasing were 137/5 in 33 overs. As the run rate climbed, Colin de Grandhomme made a rapid 60 odd off 40 odd balls to swing the tie in New Zealand’s favour. He got out at a crucial juncture of the innings and Kane Williamson played like he did against Australia in the group stages of the 2015 world cup where he held one end up. As New Zealand needed 12 off 7 balls to win, he played a delicate late cut to third man for a boundary. When Santner gave him strike after the first ball of the next over, New Zealand needed 7 off 5, and Williamson hit a 4 and a sweet 6 to win Kiwis the match.

Match 26: Australia vs Bangladesh

Expected a one sided match with Australia winning easily despite Bangladesh’s heroics in the previous match again West Indies, and it turned out that way. The highlight of the match was David Warner’s innings where he threatened to be the first Australian to make a 200 score. The entire office stopped and started watching him and there was collective groan when he got out.

Match 27: England vs Sri Lanka

Expected nothing from Sri Lanka in this match, but how wrong I was! The Lankans batted first and put on 230 odd which I expected the English to win easily. Malinga snared four wickets as England kept losing wickets regularly and fell short by 20 runs.

I watched this match in Mantra restaurant and bar where the bill for the cable hadn’t been paid for by the hotel and I watched 2 hours of the match with an ugly overlay on the screen which kept reminding the viewers that the bill hadn’t been paid. When England were 5 down, I requested the manager to pay the bill, which they miraculously did, and I watched the rest of the game there. Some people began questioning England’s capability to win the world cup after this game as it threw open the possibility for four teams (Sri Lanka, West Indies, Bangladesh and England) to make it to the semi finals.

Match 28: Afghanistan vs India

Expected an easy win for us, but things did not go to plan. We could make only 220 odd and there was a point of time where I felt that Afghanistan would win it. But the team clearly lacked experience playing against big teams and bundled the chase. Shami took a hat-trick to seal the game.

Match 29: New Zealand vs West Indies

For me, this was the match of the tournament. New Zealand were 7/2 losing both their openers for nothing. Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson put on a 150 odd run partnership before the team ran out of steam and ended up with 291 on the board. Williamson scored half those runs with 148 against his name.

Windies had to win to stay alive in the tournament. The chase began with the loss of two wickets, but Gayle and Hetmyer put on 140 odd for the third wicket at such a good rate that the they needed 150 runs at 5.3 an over with 8 wickets in hand. The temperament issues with Windies cricketers reared its ugly head again. Hetmyer tried to hit a six and was clean bowled. Holder came in next and tried to drive and was caught behind. All eyes were on Gayle for some sensible batting, and the man, who in my opinion epitomized the loss of temperament, got out on 81 trying to hit a six which was a knuckleheaded decision at that stage. He walked off to a standing ovation which I felt he did not deserve. Carlos Brathwaite walked in and shepherded the tail and kept the Windies in the chase. He refused the singles in the beginning of the overs, hit the boundary when it was on offer, and brought them to within 6 runs of victory, when he holed out at long on trying to clear the boundary with the number 11 at the other end and with Matt Henry due to bowl the next over.

This innings of Brathwaite will live long in my memory and in my opinion was the innings of the tournament.

Match 30: Pakistan vs South Africa

Did not expect much from South Africa given their recent form. The match turned out to be a dud with Pakistan batting first and defending comfortably. The loss left South Africa with no chance of making it to the semis.

Match 31: Afghanistan vs Bangladesh

At the beginning of the tournament, I expected Afghanistan to beat Bangladesh. Given the form of both the nations, it was a foregone conclusion with Bangladesh winning easily.

Match 32: England vs Australia

This was a precursor to the Ashes and was one of the biggest matches of the tournament. The Aussie openers did well again with Finch getting to an even hundred. The rest of the batting “collapsed” as the Aussies ended up with 285 after a very strong start. England should have easily won the match but were bowled out for 221. A few fears for the England side as they had lost their previous two matches while Australia qualified for the semis.

Match 33: New Zealand vs Pakistan

Pakistan made a couple of changes for this match — Shaheen Afridi in for Hasan Ali and Haris Sohail in for Shoaib Malik. The changes immediately paid dividends with Shaheen picking up 3 wickets as New Zealand fell away to 83/5. Their all round duo of Jimmy Neesham and Colin de Grandhomme put on a hundred run sixth wicket partnership as NZ ended up with 240 odd as Neesham ended up with 97 not out. Pakistan made light work of the total as Babar Azam scored a hundred and Haris Sohail made 68.

Match 34: India vs West Indies

India batted first and scored 268. West Indies were all out for 143. Boring match it was.

Match 35: South Africa vs Sri Lanka

A match of equals at this stage of the tournament given the recent forms of the teams. The Lankans were bowled out for 203 as Amla and du Plessis putting on an unbeaten 170 run partnership for the second wicket. Too little too later for the Saffers as they were already knocked out and took down the Lankans with them.

Match 36: Afghanistan vs Pakistan

At the beginning of the tournament, I expected Afghanistan to beat one of the top teams and they came mighty close to taking down Pakistan. Afghanistan batted first and made 227 with Shaheen Afridi taking 4 wickets. Pakistan’s chase began with a minor disaster as they lost Fakhar Zaman first ball. After a 70 run second wicket partnership, Pakistan kept losing wickets regularly. At the end of the 45th over, the equation was 46 runs required in 5 overs with 4 wickets in hand. At that stage, Rashid Khan had 2 overs left and Mujeeb Ur Rahman had one over left. The batsmen were not picking either spinner, and Gulbadin Naib brought himself on. He was not having a good day having been the only bowler the Pakistani batsmen were able to pick and had figures of 0/47 in his 8 overs at that stage. He ended up leaking 18 in his over to lift all pressure off the Pakistani batsmen. Despite losing another wicket, Imad Wasim shepherded the chase as Wahab Riaz came in and hit a couple of boundaries as Pakistan won with 2 balls to spare. This loss must have hurt the Afghanistan players a lot since they came very close to beating a top rated team.

Match 37: Australia vs New Zealand

The first of the two top billed matches of the day was a dud as Australia won easily. They batted first and made 243 as Starc picked up 5 and bundled out New Zealand for 157.

Match 38: England vs India

The second of the top billed matches of the day and all teams of the subcontinent — Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka were supporting India. If India win, the other three still have a chance. If England win, all three get knocked out.

Jason Roy was brought back for the match despite him not having recovered from an injury, and he and Bairstow put on an opening partnership of 150+as England put on 337 on the board. India were in the chase for much of the match with Rohit getting another hundred and Kohli also getting another fifty. Once both got out, Rishabh Pant flawed wildly and also lost his bat while trying to hit. It was an underwhelming innings by Rishabh, but at least he tried his bit unlike the batsmen after him. Dhoni somehow refused to go for the target as we ended up with 30 runs less at the end. All other subcontinent brethren got knocked out at the end and there were whispers that Dhoni deliberately played slowly so that Pakistan would get knocked out.

Match 39: Sri Lanka vs West Indies

Do not remember anything about this match that happened between two teams that were knocked out. Don’t think anyone cared.

Match 40: Bangladesh vs India

India won with an easy match and qualified for the semis.

Match 41: England vs New Zealand

Bairstow and Roy were again at the helm with a 100 odd opening partnership as England made 300 odd. The Kiwis were skittled out for 180 odd.

Match 42: West Indies vs Afghanistan

Windies won easily.

Match 43: Pakistan vs Bangladesh

Another rivalry in a dead game which Pakistan won easily as Shaheen Afridi took 6 wickets. Shoaib Malik retired from ODIs after the match. His last contribution for Pakistan in ODIs — 0(1) against India.

Match 44: India vs Sri Lanka

Another dead match that India won easily. Angelo Mathews finally had an innings of substance and got a hundred, but India chased it with such ease that at one stage it looked likely that the openers themselves would complete the chase. Both our openers got out after their hundreds though.

Match 45: South Africa vs Australia

This was the swansong match for Imran Tahir and JP Duminy in ODIs. They signed off with a win as SA batted first and made 325 with 100 from Faf du Plessis and 94 from Rassie van der Dussen. Warner made a hundred and Alex Carey made 80 odd as the Aussies fell 10 short.

Semi final 1: New Zealand vs India

This was the match that was like the three curses on Karna. Just as the curse of Mother Earth, Parasuram and the brahmin whose cow he killed by mistake materialized at the exact same point in the battle, India lost its top three in the crunch match of the tournament. I had earlier said that India might not be champions since there is little in the way of batting after we lose our top three, and it came to haunt us in the knock out stage. Jadeja played a blinder of an innings to get us close to the score, but after he was out and Dhoni was out to a direct hit from Guptill, all hope was lost and we fell 18 short. Thoroughly depressed I was that day.

Semi final 2: England vs Australia

Australia batted first as both their openers failed. Smith made 80 odd and Alex Carey made 40 odd as they put on an underwhelming 223 on the board which England chased with mighty ease. Roy made 85 off 65 as he thrashed Smith for 21 off his solitary over. Warner made 9 in the innings and left the tournament as the second highest run getter in this edition of the world cup, second to Rohit Sharma.

Final: England vs New Zealand

A lot has been said about this match and I only talk about my memory of it. I went to a party hosted by a physics professor to celebrate the one year birthday of his son in the morning and watched most of the New Zealand innings in another friend’s place. I came back home and went for a run assuming that England are going to be champions. I only started to watch the chase after seeing England 80 odd for 4. The two moments that will long in my memory are the “catch” that Trent Boult took off Stokes as he stepped on to the boundary (eventually conceding a 6), and the extra 4 runs that were a result of the throw from the boundary hitting the bat of Stokes as he dived into the crease resulting in the ball getting diverted to an unprotected part of the boundary. My opinion on the boundary rule that decided the winners at the end was that it was agreed upon at beginning of the tournament and if anyone had any issues with it, they should have highlighted it then and not after the end.