World Cup 2019: Four reasons why the tournament has been low-scoring

ICC had decided to stick with only 10 teams for this World Cup, in order to eradicate the matches which dislodged the interest of the fans. Flat decks were to be prepared, in order to generate some high-scoring thrillers. Much to the disappointment of the cricketing fraternity, this hasn't been the case so far.

There have been plenty of one-sided affairs, and most of them have seen a team knocking out its opposition for a below-par total. One can't rule out the extraordinary effort from the bowlers, but at the same time, the quality of batting have also helped their cause.

As the tournament progresses, it is necessary that the batsmen step up, so that there is at least a healthy competition between the two teams. Let us take a look at those 4 reasons, which have resulted in some one-sided low scoring matches.

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#1 Not building the innings properly

South Africa v India - ICC Cricket World Cup 2019

To put on a good total, one needs to be cautious in the beginning, accelerate a bit in the middle overs, and switch to power-hitting in the end. In the first two phases, you actually set the tone for the death overs. But most of the teams have handled all the three phases with the same kind of approach.

Most of the teams that have been bundled out for low scores have lost 3-4 wickets in the powerplay itself. The wickets have often fallen in a bundle, due to the lack of partnerships. As a result, the pressure has fallen on the lower middle order and the tailenders, to which they have succumbed.

The teams can learn from the template set by India, who were cautious in the beginning, and followed it up with some hard-hitting towards the end of the match. The way batsmen rotated the strike to see off the threat posed by Kagiso Rabada and Chris Morris was exceptionally good.

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#2 Getting carried away with the reputation of English pitches

Most of the Pakistan batsmen got out in the attempt of an aggressive shot

The English pitches carry the reputation of being a 300-350 kind of pitches, something which hasn't been the case at this World Cup. The tracks have been freshly prepared for the World Cup and weren't used in the county matches or other international matches. Trent Boult recently said that the use of glossier balls and the conditions are other factors that have resulted in a better swing, which has led to a healthy competition between the bat and the ball.

Ignoring all this, batsmen have still tried to play aggressive and risky shots. That is the reason why there has been a plethora of soft dismissals. This was first seen by Pakistan when more than 5 of their batsmen got out while trying to play an aggressive shot.

In the upcoming matches, there will be bowling-friendly tracks, and the onus would be on the batsmen to neutralize it with some percentage cricket.

#3 Failing to win the middle overs phase

Apart from Kusal Perera, every batsman struggled against Afghanistan spinners

The middle over phase (11-40 overs) is the most important part of the innings. This is where you have to play some percentage cricket. Only the teams that don't lose wickets in this phase get a chance to come out all guns blazing towards the end.

However, the teams have lost wickets at regular intervals, that hasn't helped their cause. South Africa, in particular, have failed to take the game deep. They have lost 17 wickets in that phase, which has prevented them from attacking in the last 10 overs. The same was the case with Sri Lanka as well, who after an excellent start, found themselves in a corridor of uncertainty against Mohammad Nabi.

It's necessary to rotate the strike during the middle overs, something which hasn't been seen from many teams. The pressure that has built up due to this has resulted in wickets.

#4 The pressure factor

Najibullah Zadran

In a tournament like the World Cup, the pressure is the biggest hurdle for any batsman or bowler. The players usually succumb under it and end up committing mistakes. As a bowler, you get a second chance to recover, but it's not quite the case for a batsman.

This pressure had almost scripted a fairytale comeback for Bangladesh against New Zealand, only to be prevented by a match-saving cameo from Mitchell Santner. The run-rate was gradually soaring, which made the batsmen go for wrong shots. This was later confessed by their skipper Kane Williamson as well.

The run-out of Najibullah Zadran against Sri Lanka was also a result of the pressure that was building up on both the teams toward the business end of the game. He was the lone batsman left in the middle, and in order to remain on the strike, he had to run. But that got rid of him.