World Cup 2019: Five major highlights from the first week

The ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 is off to a superb start with no team running away with points in the first week. There have been some fantastic individual as well as team performances so far, with some results going opposite to popular perceptions.

Ben Stokes’ unbelievable catch, Andre Russell’s menacing bouncers, Mohammad Amir’s return to wicket-taking form, Dale Steyn being ruled out due to injury and Jasprit Bumrah’s lethal new-ball spell have been some of the major individual highlights from the first week.

As we near the end of the first week, we look at 5 major talking points from the tournament.

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#5 Bangladesh are here to win

Bangladesh beat South Africa on the back of a brilliant partnership between Shakib and Mushfiqur

Bangladesh surprised everyone when they reached the quarter-finals of the 2015 World Cup by beating England. Since then they have beaten every single nation participating in this World Cup, barring Australia.

They had consecutive series wins against Pakistan, India and South Africa at home, which helped them gain direct qualification for the 2019 World Cup. The last three World Cups (2007, 2011 and 2015) have seen them beating India, South Africa and England (twice). Also, they managed to enter the semi-finals in the 2017 Champions Trophy.

Cometh the World Cup, the Bangladeshi side have an experienced and dependable batting line-up and a decent bowling attack. However, nobody gave them a chance of finishing in the top four. Their opening game against South Africa was expected to be a game where the Proteas would return to winning ways.

But as it turned out, their experienced campaigners led from the front with both bat and ball and led them to an inspiring win. They scored their highest ever ODI total against a decent South African attack and then put up a clinical performance with the ball to win the game rather convincingly.

This was by no means an upset, considering the kind of cricket the Bangladesh team has played over the past four years. However, their win has put a big question mark over the qualification scenarios for other teams.

#4 West Indies are equally lethal with the ball

West Indian pacers ripped through the Pakistani line-up with sheer pace and hostile bounce

West Indies were the last team to qualify for the World Cup, having to play the qualifying tournament and finishing as the runner-ups there. However, things started to fall in place just ahead of the World Cup when they beat England 2-1 in the home Test series. That was followed by a 2-2 series draw against the top ranked ODI side.

The drawn series saw the resurgence of the Caribbean side with the 39-year old Chris Gayle being at his destructive best. With a side full of talents like Shai Hope and Shimron Hetmeyer and the experience of Chris Gayle, Darren Bravo and Evin Lewis, followed by a series of powerful all-rounders in Jason Holder, Carlos Brathwaite and Andre Russell, West Indies had a fearful look to their batting.

The warm-up game saw them blast 421 against New Zealand. However, the only doubt about their chances was whether their bowling could stop other batting sides. Then happened their opening game against Pakistan, a side which had scored 340 plus in each of their last three games.

The West Indian bowling unit then showed their might as they made a mockery of the Pakistan batting, bundling them for 105. That was obviously not a fluke, because they ripped through the English side, getting them all out for 113 in their last ODI game before the World Cup.

With such a performance, the Caribbean pacers have shown they can beat oppositions with their raw pace and frightening bounce, even on the flat English wickets. This has made them an even more dangerous side to face.

#3 A World Cup for all-rounders

Ben Stokes pulled off one of the best catches in the history of the tournament

Legendary West Indian skipper Clive Lloyd predicted this World Cup to be a tournament dominated by the all-rounders. His words were justified in the very first game of the tournament. And it was fittingly Ben Stokes who started the show. His match-winning 89 with the bat was followed by a 2-wicket spell and one of the best catches in the history of World Cups.

It was then time for Andre Russell to bounce out Pakistan. Shakib Al Hasan continued the trend with two back-to-back all-round performances against South Africa and New Zealand. He is well in line to become the player of the tournament.

Mohammad Hafeez then came up with a brilliant knock followed by the crucial wicket of Morgan against England. The likes of Thisara Perera, Chris Morris, Gulbadin Naib and Mohammad Nabi have all been impressive with their all-round skills in the past week. This World Cup is truly the one for the all-rounders.

#2 Pakistan and England maintaining their World Cup reputations

Pakistan justified their tag of being the unpredictables with two contrasting performances

Pakistan came into the World Cup with 10 consecutive losses. They also lost the warm-up game against Afghanistan and were then absolutely thrashed by West Indies in their opening game. England on the other hand started as favourites for the World Cup and their opening game against South Africa only strengthened their claims. England had not lost a single game chasing at home since 2016 till the start of this World Cup.

The series preceding the World Cup saw Pakistan getting whitewashed at the hands of England. However, after bundling out for 105 against West Indies, they bounced back in style against the home side, scoring a mammoth 348. The series ahead of the tournament also saw such scores put up by Pakistan and then easily chased down by England.

But it was a whole different ball game here. The pressure of a World Cup got to England and they fumbled. Pakistan yet again lifted their game in an ICC event while England continued to succumb to the pressure of a big tournament.

#1 350 is not yet a norm in the World Cup

The pitches have been good and competitive with help for batsmen as well as bowlers

The four years preceding the World Cup saw the English pitches change drastically; from pitches known to assist swing and pace to absolute belters with almost nothing for the bowlers. The pitches were made to assist the home team’s renewed style of play. From a conservative ODI side, the English side turned to a side defining a new template for batting.

350 became a norm on the English pitches, with teams scoring and chasing 350 plus scores with ease. The last 3 years have seen the highest ODI total being surpassed twice; England scoring 444 against Pakistan and then 481 against Australia.

The recently concluded series between England and Pakistan saw Pakistan being the first team to score 340 or above in three consecutive matches and England managed to get the better of them every single time. All these led to expectations of 350 plus scores being a norm this World Cup.

Come the World Cup, the pitches seem to be providing some respite to the bowlers, sometimes even giving them huge advantages over the batsmen; something which had not been seen in the last four years. Pakistan scored 348 and the home team could not chase it down, there have been two games where pacers rattled the opposition and bundled them below 150, and the 350-run mark is yet to be breached even after 9 games.

This is a welcome change and something which will only make the World Cup more exciting and competitive.