World Cup 2019: 3 surprise packages from the tournament

After an exciting month and a half of World Cup 2019 action that culminated in the epic final on Sunday at Lords, cricket fans would be finding it difficult to experience a dull period without any cricket action until next month when India take on West Indies from 3rd August.

Fans across the globe are still discussing about the overthrow law, the decision to decide the winner on boundary count and Kane Williamson’s calm demeanour even after such a heartbreaking loss. However, at the end of it all, England won their maiden World Cup title, which is the prime topic in focus.

As in any series, there were some great performances from players who were expected to do well for their respective countries apart from some disappointments as well. However, there were a couple of performers, who proved to be surprise packages with their efforts.

Here is a look at some of the surprise packages from the 2019 World Cup.

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#3 Liam Plunkett (England)

Liam Plunkett

Not many will remember that the strongly built England fast bowler Liam Plunkett featured in the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies but was not in the set up for any of the World Cups till the 2019 edition.

Whenever Eoin Morgan was in need of wickets in the middle overs especially on good batting surfaces, in this tournament, he would often turn to Liam Plunkett, who's biggest strength was his ability to bowl with the heavy ball, with a cross seam that proved to be very effective.

Coincidentally, Plunkett played in only seven matches in the 2019 World Cup campaign and England went on to win all of them. He finished with 11 wickets and those included the likes of Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle and Hashim Amla.

Even in the final against New Zealand, Plunkett picked up the most prized wicket of the opposition team, their captain Kane Williamson with a cross seam delivery that landed on the seam and deviated ever so slightly to catch the outside edge.

Plunkett finished with 3-42 off his 10 overs which went a long way in restricting NZ to 241-8, that ultimately helped England win their first ever World Cup title.

#2 Rassie Van Der Dussen (South Africa)

Rassie van der Dussen was in fine form in the middle order

In a campaign that went horribly wrong for South Africa, their only silver lining was the emergence of batsman Rassie van der Dussen. Post the retirement of AB de Villiers, the onus of scoring runs in the World Cup fell on seniors Faf du Plessis, Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock but it was this right hander who took everyone by surprise with the talent he possessed.

Although Van der Dussen has not sealed his place yet in this South Africa’s side in all formats, his calmness in the middle and the time he had while playing his strokes suggested that he was ready for all the challenges thrown at him at the international level.

Dussen finished with 311 runs from 6 innings that included three half-centuries. His 67 off 64 balls against the Kiwis on a slow wicket was a top class knock and one that could have won the game for South Africa, only for the class of Kane Williamson to seal the game for NZ.

His 97-ball 95 against Australia was yet another inning of maturity, against a world-class bowling unit which proved to be a much-needed knock to anchor South Africa's innings.

#3 Alex Carey (Australia)

Alex Carey was in fine form in the middle order

When Australia selected Alex Carey as the wicket keeper batsman for the World Cup, not many in their own country believed that he was the man for the job behind the stumps. However, the left-handed batsman proved everyone wrong by essaying some key knocks that took Australia into the semifinals.

Against West Indies, Australia were reeling at 79-5 after Jason Holder decided to send the opposition in to bat. Alex Carey joined Steve Smith at the crease and steadied the ship with right mixture of attack with defense. All the headlines were about Nathan Coulter Nile’s 92 but it was Carey’s stability that laid the platform for Coulter-Nile's aggression.

After showing good form with the bat through the tournament, Alex Carey was promoted to No 5 after Australia lost early wickets in the semifinal against England. Even though he was hit by a fiery bouncer off Joffra Archer, the left hander showed great composure to continue and put up a fighting 46.

Alex Carey became one of the key components of Australia’s ODI side as he notched up a total of 375 runs from 9 matches at an average of 62.50 and certainly looks set for a long career as wicket-keeper batsman.